


Finally

by GracieHoltzbertTrash715



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-03-16 09:49:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 33,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13633818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GracieHoltzbertTrash715/pseuds/GracieHoltzbertTrash715
Summary: Lots of Falice smut. VERY mature.





	1. Free

“Your Honor, all I want is to be able to see my kids and to keep my job. That’s all. I don’t care about alimony. As long as I have my job, I won’t have to worry about money.” Alice paused, glaring at her soon-to-be ex husband at the table beside her across the courtroom. “You know what….my job at the Register….THAT’S my alimony.” She received a glare from Hal Cooper and she sent one right back to him before looking back to the female judge on the large bench ahead of her.

Judge Sharon Bailey squinted to both journalists below her before looking down at the divorce papers in her hands. She took a while to make her decision as she read up on their plans for the kids and the Cooper’s property. With a long awaited sigh, Judge Bailey took off her glasses, setting down the papers. “I want you two to follow this plan to the ‘T.’ No whining about lack of time with the kids or who gets what from the house. Mr. Cooper, you said you found a new place?”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Hal responded, ignoring the fact that he could see Alice in the corner of his eye, watching him. “Moved in last Monday.”

“And Mrs. Cooper, you may keep your job at the Register IF….you stop throwing bricks through windows.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Alice swore she heard Hal chuckling across from her and she immediately wanted to throw a brick right there.

“You two cooperate with each other and play nice.” The judge picked up another sheet of their divorce papers, looking down at it with a shake of her head. “You’re not the first divorced couple to come in here who owned a business together. I know how you people work. You work cordially for about a month and then all of a sudden, something sets you off and you’re both right back here in my courtroom, begging for a better bargain or for me to allow one of you to be fired.” She stared them both down. “I want none of that from you two.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Hal said.

“Yes, Your Honor.” Alice spoke at the same time as him.

“Good.” The judge picked up her gavel hammer, holding it over its coaster. “Congratulations, Mr. Cooper, Miss Smith. You two are now officially divorced.” She pounded the gavel and Hal and Alice turned to look at each other with blazing eyes.

“I’m taking Betty to Pop’s for a milkshake.” Hal demanded the moment they mulled things over with their lawyers.

“That’s fine, Hal.” Alice responded, grabbing her purse.

“What? No argument about wanting to take her somewhere with Chic or something?” Hal wondered with an attitude.

“No, Hal. Chic is working all day today and Betty IS your daughter, so…”

“You sure about that?” He mumbled, hoping Betty in a courtroom seat near them wouldn’t hear.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” Alice’s lawyer spoke up, having heard it himself. “What did the judge just say?” He asked quietly, hoping Judge Bailey couldn’t hear the tift. “Play nice.” He demanded of Hal and Mr. Cooper squinted at Alice again, who crossed her arms over her chest.

“Goodbye, Hal.” Alice said with a tone of ‘good riddance’ in the back of her throat.

Her, now, ex husband sighed. “See you at the Register on Monday.” When Alice nodded with an eye roll, Hal rolled his own eyes and walked over to Betty. “Hey. How’d you like to go to Pop’s for a milkshake?”

Alice sighed, watching them walk away from her and she almost didn’t hear her lawyer speaking beside her. “You sure you’re gonna be okay? You said you’ve never been alone in that house since the day Polly was born.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She faked a smile at him and headed for the exit.

Later on that night, Alice stopped by a grocery store, grabbing herself and Chic a TV dinner, too lazy to make a full meal. Chic wouldn’t be home until around midnight, so she knew it would just be her anyway. She sighed, missing Polly and longing to meet the twins, but she knew she’d miss Betty as well, never having been away from her before. She always wondered why mothers felt so much more protective over their youngest than the others. And knowing she was extremely protective over Polly and Chic, she measured her protectiveness over Betty to be out of this world.

Sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine in her hand and her finished TV dinner on the table in front of her, Alice listened to the silence. She looked around at the empty seats at the table and she broke. Feeling alone was something she was used to. She was alone in her marriage, she barely had any friends, and she spent 20 years keeping the girls’ secret brother from them for the sake of Hal’s wishes. She was always alone mentally and emotionally. But never physically. The tears fell from her eyes for only a few minutes when she realized she needed to get ahold of herself. She wiped away her tears and stood from the table, throwing her dishes in the sink and not even bothering to wash them like she would if Hal were here.

The constant urge to cry was overbearing and she wondered what might prevent that. Leaning her back up against the sink, she looked around the whole downstairs. Her eyes fell upon the stereo over in the corner and a small smirk grew upon her face.

Not moments later, she was listening to her favorite CD. She always thought of the late 80’s to late 90’s as the best music era of all time. Her jam in high school was “That Thing” by Lauryn Hill and the moment it began to play, Alice felt nostalgic and suddenly it hit her. She was single again. She no longer had to answer to Hal. She no longer had to fear disappointing him or screaming matches breaking out for the little things. She was finally free of his manipulations and his looks of disappointment directed toward her. She was free.

The chorus to her favorite song started and she smiled so wide, slightly bopping her head along as she sang with the CD. Soon enough, she was full on dancing in the kitchen and around the dining room. The next few songs played and she moved her dance party to the living room. It wasn’t long before one of Betty’s favorite songs began to play and she remembered dancing with her six and seven year old daughters back in the day and she stopped, looking around at the empty house again. A few more tears fell from her eyes and she sighed, angrily wiping them away.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a knock on the door and she sniffled, heading over to it with a fake peppy attitude. Opening the door, she was surprised to see the man that stood on her doorstep. “Hey, Alice.”

“Oh, uh...hey.” She immediately felt self- conscious and silly in front of him. “What are you doing here?” She didn’t mean to sound rude, but she was a bit out of breath from dancing and she was, frankly, a bit caught off guard by the random visitation.

FP heard the music inside and he chuckled, noticing her heavy breathing. “Were you just dancing?”

“What? No.” She said with a ridiculous tone.

“You were, weren’t you?” His smile only grew.

“What are you doing here, FP?” She asked with annoyance, as she held tighter to the doorknob.

“Is Jughead here? He said he was meeting up with Betty later and-”

“Oh. Betty went out with her father. I’m not sure where Jughead is. Maybe he went with them, but I’m not sure.” She was finally able to breathe regularly and the thought of her house being so empty, caused her internal sadness again.

FP’s smile faded when he felt something was off. “Are you okay?” He could see the wetness in her eyes, but she refused to acknowledge it.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. I just, um...it’s my first night alone in the house since Polly was born.” She immediately kicked herself for being so honest all of a sudden.

“Oh.” He answered. “How is Polly?”

“I, uh….” She thought of a fake response, but decided to tell the truth anyway. “...I honestly don’t know...She won’t talk to me.” She shook her head. “And Chic’s working pretty much all night, so…”

“Oh.” FP nodded. “How’s he doing after the-” He began to whisper about the killing and the murder cover up.

“Oh, uh...he’s been fine.” She whispered, looking over FP’s shoulder as if she were paranoid someone were behind him, listening in.

“And you? How have you been?” He averted his eyes from hers for a moment as he remembered how sadly broken she was that day in the diner after he finished his difficult task for her.

“I, um...I don’t really wanna talk about it.” She admitted, looking down at the floor beneath her.

“Okay…” He broke at the sight of her in such a confused state, but he knew not to push it with her, so he sighed. “...well, I’m gonna go and get something to eat and figure out if Jug’s with Betty and Hal.” He took one step back. “Take care, Alice.”

“Wait, FP!” She didn’t know why she stopped him. “I can, um...I can fix you something to eat if you’d like.”

“No, no. I’ll just-” He pointed behind him.

“No, no. Really. You’re probably gonna go get some god awful fast food anyway. Don’t you miss my cooking?” She smirked when he seemed shocked she’d know that. “I know you.” She tilted her head to the side and chuckled. “Come on.” She waved, moving aside to let him in. “I don’t bite.” She grinned.

FP reluctantly stepped in, gazing down at her. “You bite sometimes.” He teased.

“Yes, but I’m not venomous.” She joked and they both laughed as he stepped in.


	2. Can I?

“So….Hal was cheating on you with Penelope Blossom?” FP asked as he took his last bite of the grilled chicken and green beans Alice had made him.

“Mhm.” Alice rested her elbow on the table, leaning her face in her hand while she stared down at the tablecloth.

“How the fu-” He stopped. “Just...how?” He wondered, setting down his fork and putting his hands to his face.

“How what?” She finally looked to him, putting both hands in her lap.

“How could anyone cheat on you?”

“Oh, come on. Like you didn’t think of being with other girls when we were together.” She scoffed, taking a sip of her wine.

“I didn’t.” He said, looking at her intensely. Alice set down her glass of wine with a look of astonishment. “Not once.” He seriously shook his head, gazing into her icy blue eyes.

Alice stared into his brown ones and she felt her stomach jump as she knew he was telling the truth. She swallowed hard, feeling her cheeks suddenly grow warm and her heartbeat increased. “Well, Hal is…...not you.” She picked up her glass again. “He doesn’t feel things as deeply as you do.”

“Clearly.” FP took a sip of his water. “For him to disown his own son like that. Psh!” He took another sip and set down his glass.

“FP, um…” Alice was about to tell him the truth. The truth about *his* son. She was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

“Jughead...Where you at, boy?” FP asked, holding the phone to his ear. “Why didn’t you answer my texts?” He listened to Jughead tell him that his phone had died at Pop’s and that they were now at Hal’s new place watching a movie. “Okay. I love you too….Bye.” He put his cell back into his pocket.

It was silent for a moment as Alice began to panic inside. It was time to tell him. She needed to tell him. “I-” She began to speak, but he interrupted.

“Alice...I’m sorry Hal has been a pain in the ass. He’s honestly a crazy son of a bitch to even be able to think of other women while he’s with you.”

“FP, stop.” She looked down into her lap, unsure of how to process anything at the moment.

“I mean it. Look at you.” Alice looked up to him as he continued. “It’s honestly so hard to look at you sometimes….You’re just so fucking gorgeous. It’s almost impossible.”

Taken aback, Alice struggled to get her words out. “Impossible to what?”

“Not to touch you.”

“FP.” She felt like she might pass out and she looked down at the plate in front of him. Quickly panicking, she stood, taking his dishes over to the sink and setting them inside.

“Can I?”

She heard him standing directly behind her after he followed her to the sink. When she turned around he was about a foot away from her. “Can you what?” She wondered, staring down at the floor behind him.

He took a few steps closer to her, causing her body to grow warm. His voice lowered to an almost whisper and he stared down at her lips. “Can I touch you?” He asked, lifting a hand to graze her forearm.

“FP.” She whispered as well, her eyes closing as they made contact. She wanted to say no. She knew she should. But she knew she needed him. She missed him. So much pain had filled the both of them and she could feel it in his touch. He pained for her too. She let out a small breath and opened her eyes again, seeing him look at her with so much passion. “Yes.” She whispered. “Yes.” Her voice grew a little louder. “Yes, FP. Please.” She said, letting out a small sob. “Please.” She whispered again with her eyes closed.

Her own two hands reached up for his ribs while his slowly wrapped around her back. They both closed their eyes and leaned their foreheads together as if trying their hardest not to kiss. Each felt their stomachs fill with butterflies as their breathing grew unsteady. “Alice.” He said in a hushed tone, moving his head just a bit so his nose touched hers.

“Oh my god.” She whispered, missing him say her name that way. “Do it.” She demanded. “Do it, FP.” She gave him a peck kiss right beside his lips. “Fuck me.” She whispered.

He pushed her against the counter behind her, picking her up and setting her on top of it while she ripped her own shirt off, throwing it to the floor. FP pulled one of her bra straps down, kissing her shoulder and giving her a tiny bite as she whimpered. Alice’s head fell back as her fingers made their way into his hair and he traced kisses down her shoulder and to her cleavage. His hands wasted no time in reaching under her baby blue pencil skirt, tearing off her underwear before sliding his fingers where she needed them most. She moaned along with his movements as her legs gradually opened more and more for him.

Wrapping her fingers in his hair, Alice lifted his head from her chest, forcing him to look at her before she finally kissed him. She moaned into his mouth as his finger hit her most sensitive spot and her grip on his hair became painful to him. But he liked it. It aroused him more and he couldn’t wait anymore. He used his free hand to unzip his jeans and without even pulling them down, he forced himself into her, causing her to yelp.

He found a steady rhythm, moving in and out of her, revelling in her screams. Her nails dug into his flannel, ripping at it before she felt her first orgasm. “Fuck!” She moaned as he continued. Her left hand fell to the countertop beneath her, trying to keep her balance as her legs began to shake and he moved faster and harder. Alice felt a charlie horse in her thigh, but she ignored it, needing more. “Harder.” She demanded, wrapping her right arm around his shoulder, hugging him to her. He bit her neck and she screamed with a smile as her head fell back, hitting the cupboard behind her. “Shit.” She wanted to giggle, but couldn’t as another moan escaped her lips. “Yeah.” She moaned again. “Yeah.” Came out as a whisper.

His moans sent chills up and down her spine, causing her to smile even wider before she slid her tongue back into his mouth. He only kissed her for a moment though as he started to feel himself reaching the edge. “I’m gonna.” He whispered, his sweating face centimeters from hers.

“Stay inside.” She demanded, too lazy to wanna clean up afterward.

“Really?” He asked with a grunt.

“Fucking stay inside me, FP.” She said, almost in an irritated tone and he obeyed as he came and his eyes closed.

“Fuck.” He whispered as his forehead leaned against hers.

“Mhm.” Alice nodded as she reached her second orgasm and he slowed down before she finished. Her arm was sore from holding onto the counter so hard and her legs still shook below her. FP began to move out of her, but she pulled him to her. “No, no. Not yet.” She said with her eyes closed in a relaxed smile. Her head leaned back against the cabinet behind her as she held onto his shoulders. FP kissed her neck once more and Alice grabbed his face, putting her head down and kissing him on the lips once more. “I forgot how much I missed that.” She giggled, still trying to catch her breath.

“Liar.” He chuckled and she gave him a playful slap on the face. “Hey, hey, hey.” He laughed. “Watch it. Or you’re gonna get me ready for round two.” They both laughed again, slowing their breaths and kissing once more. “Can I-” He began to ask.

“Yeah.” She allowed him to move out of her, though she missed him right away and he carefully set her down onto the floor once again.

“You alright?” He asked as she struggled to stand, her legs almost buckling below her. He refused to take a hand off of her until he knew she was alright.

“I think so.” She kept a hand on his shoulder. They looked into the eyes of the person beside them before Alice let out a small chortle. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” She whispered, attempting to take a step forward, but feeling her weakened legs and their charlie horses get the best of her.

“I’ll help you.” He demanded and she thanked him before walking her to the room around the corner.


	3. Soul Reconciliation

FP gently guided her to the bathroom on the first floor, pushing the door open a bit more for her. “You want me to wait out here for you?” He asked politely and she shook her head at his chivalry.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.” She grabbed ahold of the sink as FP turned on the light for her and she stepped inside while he closed the door.

Mr. Jones leaned against the wall with his arms crossed after he finally zipped up his jeans. “I’m right here if you need me.” He said through the door.

“I’m fine, FP.” She made her tone sound irritated although she stood in front of the mirror, smiling at herself with giddiness.

“Alright.” He said, grinning like a fool on the other side of the wall.

Alice looked down at her bra strap, falling off one shoulder and she readjusted it, biting her lower lip. Putting a hand on her forehead, she looked up as if to thank God. With a sigh of relief, she waited a bit longer before the pain of her charlie horse finally calmed down a bit and she was able to walk over to the toilet. She didn’t even have to pee. She just wanted a moment to herself to recoup, or to reJones, so to speak. And she noticed how much she missed him on the other side. She hurried up and stood, pulling her pencil skirt back down, finally realizing her underwear was somewhere in the kitchen. Her hands moved up to hold her forehead as she realized that was the first time that kitchen had ever seen any type of action like that. Her legs, still a bit in pain, moved toward the door, coming out as FP went in.

While Alice waited for him, she went into the kitchen to retrieve her blouse and her underwear, which she brought with her to the laundry room. She deviously smiled to herself as she threw her underwear into a basket, leaving the room without a new pair. She lazily put her shirt back on and returned to the hallway just outside the bathroom. She heard the sink inside and FP soon joined her.

They stopped and stared at each other for a moment in silence before they both laughed. “We just-”

“Yeah.” FP interrupted her, looking down to the carpet.

“And I kinda wanna-” Alice started again.

“Yupp. Me too.” He looked down at her lips and she closed her eyes.

“FP, don’t look at me like that. We’re gonna do it again if you do.” FP walked toward her, putting his hands on her stomach and she backed into the wall behind her. They kissed, delighting in each other’s presence before Alice’s hands made their way to his shoulders. She pushed him away just a bit so they could look into each other’s eyes. “FP, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” He asked. Alice had always been impressed with his talent for immediately turning from super horny to super loving in less than five seconds.

“It’s about Chic.” She said, sadly looking down at her own hands while they slid down his chest, resting on his pecs. “There’s something you need to know.”

FP panicked a little inside, assuming the worst. “It wasn’t self defense?” He asked about the murder.

“What?” Alice was a bit caught off guard, having actually forgotten about the murder for a bit in FP’s presence. “Oh...No. No.” She shook her head, still finding it hard to look him in the eye. “That was self defense, yes. Well...not self defense, but he was protecting me. I just, umm…” She looked at the wall behind him. She honestly could not think of a good way to tell him. The words would not come to her. “You know the thing that we just did in there.” She looked to the kitchen and so did he before blushing with a nod.

“Yeah.” He laughed and it was so cute, Alice melted a little inside.

“And you know the thing we did about two weeks before Homecoming?” Her smile vanished when he seemed to look confused.

“Yeah?” He questioned. Alice didn’t say another word, she just waited for him to figure it out in his head. “Wait.” He pulled away a little, still holding her in his arms though. “Are you saying-”

A small sob escaped Alice’s lips and a few tears fell. “Yeah.” She sadly nodded. “He’s yours. Chic is yours.” She still stared down at his chest as she spoke and she fiddled with a button on his flannel. “I’ve wanted to tell you so many times, FP. I did. But Hal, he….he was very manipulative and controlling back then. And he would get so angry that sometimes he-”

“Alice….Alice.” FP stared intently at her, waiting for her to look into his eyes. “He never hit you, did he?” He asked, already pissed even though he didn’t know the answer.

“No.” She sobbed. “No. But I was always afraid that he would. So I started to do whatever he said and it almost led to him killing Chic. And FP...I’m so sorry. I am.” FP let go of her and walked to the other side of the hall for a moment before he looked back at her. “FP.” She begged. “Please forgive me.”

“So-” He began, putting his hands to his head. Alice broke even more, seeing him like that and her hands moved to cover her mouth. “So…” His voice cracked as he walked back over to her. “So, he’s my son?” He asked in a whisper. “We had a baby together?”

Alice looked up at him, quickly nodding and touching her fingers to his forearms as she played with his sleeves. “Yes.” She let out with exasperation.

“We...We have a baby together.” His frown slowly warped into a face of excitement. His hand reached up, to push one of Alice’s stray hairs behind her ear.

Alice’s eyes lit up as she couldn’t believe he’d be so happy. “Can you forgive me?” She asked, her voice still a little broken.

“Ali…” He held onto her cheek, stepping in just a bit closer to her. “Hal has always been manipulative and I, frankly, never liked him. Not for one second. You always thought I was jealous, but no. I was just pissed knowing that that asshole had you under his spell. I don’t need to forgive you, because I know it wasn’t your fault.” He gave her a short, gentle kiss. “I’m pissed at him. Not you.”

“I-” Alice shook her head, about to tell him how much she regretted leaving him back then, but she changed her mind, pulling him in for another kiss instead. “I need you again.” She whispered with a grin.

“Right now?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Right now.” She moved her hand to hold the back of his neck. “Right here.” She whispered, leaning in to bite his ear.

FP’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he groaned at the bite. “Are-are you sure?”

Alice pulled away from him, giving him another tiny slap in the face to arouse him. “I’m fucking positive, Forsythe.” She reached for the button on his jeans, undoing it before unzipping them and pushing them down to the floor. Her fingers grabbed ahold of the waistband to his red boxers and she pulled him closer to her, slowly sliding her hand underneath them. She watched him close his eyes as she slowly teased him and she felt him harden. She smiled at him before sliding down the wall, bringing herself to her knees for him.

FP put one hand on the wall in front of him and the other hand moved to hold Alice’s hair as she slid her tongue along his member through the opening in his boxers. Once he finally grew, she let him into her mouth for a moment before FP found the strength to pull her hair, forcing her head away from him. “Come here.” He put a hand under her chin and she looked up at him before standing upon his command. In one swift movement, FP lifted her off the ground, slamming her back into the wall behind her while she wrapped one leg around him and the other foot barely touched the floor beneath them.

He wasted no time in lifting her skirt once again and he was proud to see she still had nothing underneath it. He forced himself roughly into her and she let out a grateful yell before gleefully laughing before he pulled out and strongly pushed back into her, causing her to scream again. Her back felt bruised from hitting the wall, but she didn’t care. This was what she had been missing for more than twenty years. No one had ever made her feel so needed or wanted more than FP ever did and she let herself feel every hint of pain, physically and emotionally when it came to him.

He continued to fuck her up against the wall, both not even attempting to stay quiet as he did so. “Again?” He grunted, his mouth right beside her ear as he got closer and closer to his climax.

“Fuck it!” She said, allowing him to come inside her again and she soon felt their souls reconciling and becoming one once more after all these years.


	4. Realization

Alice slowly let her leg fall to the floor as FP kept her pinned up against the wall. They continued to kiss as he leisurely pulled out of her. She felt the remnants of him dripping down her right thigh as she reached for it, wiping some of it onto her finger and pulling out of the kiss to put her finger into her mouth, maintaining eye contact with the man so close to her. He grinned, feeling a positive shudder upon watching her actions before he kissed her neck and slid his tongue down to her stomach. After kissing her belly button, he hiked her skirt up just a bit more, leaning into her thigh to clean its wetness with his own tongue.

Alice looked down at him, watching him with lustful eyes as she bit her lower lip with a grin. She reached down, taking his face in her hand, forcing him to look up at her as he stood. Without a word, she took him by the hand and walked around him, pulling him into the bathroom with her.

“Where are we going?” He asked, gladly following.

Alice, still refusing to respond, pulled him inside, shut the bathroom door, and turned to send him a smirk. She made her way to the shower, turning the nozzle and FP rubbed his chin, blushing. “You ready for round three?” She asked.

“Um, I don’t know.” He admitted, a bit worn out.

Alice held her hand under the water for a moment until it was at a comfortable temperature and she seductively curled her finger toward her, enticing him to move forward. He reluctantly obeyed and she happily rid him of his clothes while he removed her bra and skirt. Their tongues intertwined as they carefully stepped into the shower, almost tripping in the process. “Oops!” She giggled.

“Careful.” He chuckled, holding her bare skin close to his.

When they finally maintained their balance, they continued to kiss, feeling the water fall around them and in between their naked bodies. It took a while before he could harden again from his exhaustion, but she soon succeeded in teasing him when she guided his hands to her breasts and ass. She smiled into their kiss when she felt him grow again and she pulled away from him for a moment. “Hey.” She gazed lovingly into his eyes. “You know that thing I always hated?”

“What thing?” He wondered. She sent him a knowing look and he was immediately reminded. “Ohhh….that thing.” He nodded. “Yeah?”

Alice felt her heart begin to pound unsteadily as she turned around in his arms. “Do you wanna?” She asked nervously, her back to him.

“Al….Ali, you-”

“It’s okay.” She closed her eyes with a smile. “Maybe I’ll change my mind.” She opened her eyes, looking at him over her shoulder. She grabbed one of his hands behind her and moved it to hold her stomach. “It’s been a while.” She whispered, sliding his hand down her wet skin and forcing it to her sensitive area. She let out a small moan to drive him crazy and he bit her shoulder.

Alice slowly bent over, allowing him to enter her from behind while he teased her clit with his finger, his arm still wrapped around her. She winced in pain when he moved in and out of her until soon, she began to like it. The water continued to soak her hair and she closed her eyes, waiting for him to finish. The steam that filled the bathroom made it harder for them to breathe, but they ignored it, too entranced by each other’s presence to care.

Eventually, she heard his grunting slow down behind her and soon, he stopped. “Fuck.” He whispered to himself before pulling out and turning her around to face him. He forced his tongue into her mouth and she gladly reciprocated, waiting for the throbbing in her body to stop. “Your turn.” FP said into her ear before dropping to his knees and placing one of her thighs upon his shoulder.

Alice’s head fell back as he began to eat her out. She grabbed ahold of the bar beside her for support as she soon began to notice the weakness in her legs growing more unbearable. She furrowed her brows as an expression of pure pleasure fell upon her face and she moaned and whimpered over and over again, saying his name while her fingers found their way into his hair. “FP….Oh my….Fu-” Her words continued to be cut off by her heavy breathing and she finally felt her fifth orgasm that night.

When he finished listening to her moans, he stood again, kissing her and she tasted herself in his mouth. “Can I tell you something?” He asked as they moved under the shower head again.

“Hm?” She wondered with a content smile.

“I don’t wanna leave you tonight.” The fingers on his left hand intertwined with her own as they rested their hands on her hip.

“I…” She looked down, hesitating to respond. When she looked back up into his caring brown eyes, she felt that feeling in the pit of her stomach...the one she hadn’t felt for anyone in almost 23 years. She almost told him that he needed to leave her. She almost told him that she wasn’t ready for a relationship so fast. But that feeling. Those eyes. Their bodies so close and entwined. That look in his eyes everytime he saw her. She couldn’t deny it. She couldn’t keep him away. Nor could she keep away from him. As she gazed up at him and she fiddled with his fingers. She sighed, realizing this was supposed to be her husband all along. She hoped for a time machine and prayed nothing would tear them apart again. She couldn’t help it. She was still so much in love with him. “I don’t want you to leave either.” She admitted and the smile he sent her caused her to tear up. It was in that moment that she realized...it’s always been him.

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, readers! I know that this chapter was a lot shorter than the others, but I really liked where it ended and I have an appointment in less than an hour, so I couldn’t write too much. Do not worry. There will be more chapters. I promise. Thanks so much for the feedback and please keep leaving those reviews down below. I love you guys. MWAH!**


	5. Don't Need This Anymore

After they had finished showering, Alice headed to the laundry room to pull her lavender purple pajamas out of the drier while FP put his white t-shirt and boxers back on. Alice took his flannel and jeans and set them in the washer, turning it on before they each headed back out into the living room. FP couldn’t help but notice her pained steps. “You okay?” He asked with a hand on the back of his neck when she joined him down the hall.

“Hm?” She giggled. “Oh...Yeah. I’m good.” She whispered, taking another slow step forward. Her legs were still a little sore and shaking, but she knew it was worth it. “Um…” She began, making her way to stand in front of the sofa. “I think we really needed that.”

“Yeah.” He laughed with a small grin as he nodded. His eyes accidentally fell to her lips and he stepped closer to her.

She took hold of his forearms, her fingers brushing against his warm skin while he held onto her elbows. “Where did all the time go?” She whispered, looking down at their skin to skin contact.

“Slipped through our fingers.” He responded. “Just like you slipped through mine.” As he said it, his grip on her grew tighter, as if to make sure she couldn’t escape him. “I’m not letting that happen this time.”

His words caused her to lose her breath and her body felt weak in his presence. She let out a breath and her head dropped to look at the floor. FP leaned in, giving her the most tender kiss on the forehead. It wasn’t until now that they had realized they left Alice’s stereo on. “I Swear” by All-4-One filled the warm, silent air and without even discussing it, they both wrapped their arms around each other, beginning to sway to the music. Alice leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, finding comfort in his arms once again. Both had so much they wanted to say to each other, but neither wanted to let it out. They enjoyed the silence save for the soft music coming from the kitchen.

When the song ended, the CD stopped, causing them to notice the silence between them. She pulled her head away from him in order to look up at him and they stopped swaying. She sighed with a weak smile as they still held each other in their arms. She wrapped her arms fully around his back, intertwining her own fingers from both her hands behind him. It was then that she felt it. Her wedding ring. When she pulled back a bit in shock, FP noticed. “What?” He asked her.

Alice grabbed ahold of the ring, pulling it off and bringing her hands out from around him. FP kept his hands on her lower back while she rested her forearms on his chest, staring down at the ring in her hands while she fiddled with it. She sighed. “I don’t need this anymore.” She said with a hint of relief in her tone. “It’s funny that a little piece of jewelry can change your life.” She took one last good look at the ring before leaning over to set it down on the coffee table beside them.

As she did so, FP sat down on the couch, leaning back to get more comfortable. Alice turned to look down at him and she softly smiled, following and sitting eerily close to him, leaning into his chest while he put his arm around her shoulder. They laid there and cuddled for hours, talking about the kids and the good old days.

Hours later, the front door opened and Charles “Chic” Smith stepped in in his Bijou uniform. His eyes drooped with exhaustion and each of his steps showed the strain in his feet. Alice shot right up as if she had been caught and FP eventually stood as well. ”Chic, honey.” His mother’s voice went up an octave as if she were talking to a small child and FP looked at her beside him with a tilt of his head.

“Hey, Alice.” Chic sighed, his eyes barely staying open.

“How was work?” Alice asked.

“Fine, I guess.” He mumbled. “I’m gonna go to bed.” He started for the stairs, but Alice walked over to him, grabbing ahold of his hand to stop him for a moment.

“Wait, wait. Sweetie.” FP continued to watch Alice as her voice got higher and higher. “Before you go, I want you to meet somebody.” She reached her free hand behind her, grabbing FP to pull him to stand next to her. She finally let go of Chic’s hand, holding onto FP’s with both of her own. “This is FP.”

Chic looked at the man, remembering hearing that name from Betty once or twice and hearing Alice talk about him covering up the…”Oh.” He nodded, his eyes still barely staying open.

“He’s your…” She looked up at FP beside her, then back to Chic. “He-”

“It’s nice to meet you, Chic.” FP interrupted her. “You go up and get some sleep. You look beat.” FP put an arm around Alice beside him while he put his hand out to shake Chic’s. Chic weakly shaked FP’s hand before turning and lazily walking up the stairs. When he was finally gone, Alice turned to face FP, who spoke right away. “He looked like he had a rough day. Tell him tomorrow morning?”

Alice nervously nodded as she bit her lower lip and FP pulled her in for a hug. “I’m pretty beat, too.” Alice finally admitted. “Wanna head up to bed?”

They pulled out of their embrace and FP pretended to ponder the question. “Hmmm...Let me think abo-” Before he even finished the statement, he lifted her off the ground, cradling her in his arms. “...ut that.” He finished, kissing her while she giggled. And he carried her up the stairs.

The next morning, Chic stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to find Alice and FP happily preparing breakfast. He slowly stepped down the last two stairs with a look of confusion plastered on his face.

“Oh, good morning, darling.” Alice said with a wider grin than Chic had ever seen. “We’re making blueberry pancakes and bacon. I also have some poppyseed muffins in the oven.” She watched him stand there, looking back and forth between the other two. “Have a seat.” She grinned. Chic slowly obeyed, taking a seat at the end of the table as he watched FP over by the stove, flipping the bacon. “Do you want orange juice or apple juice?” Alice asked in a petite voice.

“Apple, please.” Chic responded, still staring at FP.

“Okay.” Alice smiled, heading over toward FP. “Could you hand me a glass?” She asked Mr. Jones. He reached up into the cupboard over his head and handed her one. “Thanks, hun.” She immediately felt her cheeks growing red as she realized what she called him.

FP couldn’t help but smile and he slightly turned his head over his shoulder to look at her behind him. “You’re welcome.”

Chic watched them both smile at each other before returning to what they were doing.

Once breakfast was finished, they all sat at the table with the food in the center of it. While they began to eat, Chic looked back and forth at the other two, still trying to process what was going on here. “So…” He finally broke the silence. “You’re the one who helped with the…”

Both Alice and FP stopped what they were doing, looking toward each other. “Um…” Jughead’s dad began. “Yeah…”

“Why would you do that?” Chic asked as his mother nervously swallowed her orange juice.

“He did it for us, Chic.” Alice reached over, briefly setting her hand upon his. “For you.”

“Why would he do it for me? He doesn’t even know me.” He watched them both look at each other again and he started to put two and two together, remembering that Alice had something to tell him last night while introducing FP. “Oh.” He looked at FP who looked at Alice. “So, Hal, he’s-”

“Polly and Betty’s father.” Alice finally admitted. She grew nervous, waiting for her son to explode. But….

A large grin grew upon Chic’s face. “Cool.” Frankly, he was relieved. He couldn’t stand Hal and finding out that he was not his father made him feel like the happiest man on earth. Even happier that it seemed his parents could be getting back together. He took another sip of his apple juice and continued to eat a muffin with extreme contentment.

Alice and FP smiled at each other from across the table and continued to eat as well.

 

* * *

 

**A/N: I know this chapter was a little lame, but I’m trying to set up for the next chapter. Don’t shoot me. Lol Updating again soon. MWAH!**


	6. Panic-Stricken

Chic left for work and FP and Alice sat at the bottom of the staircase near the kitchen. Alice sighed beside him. “Ugh! I’m so relieved he didn’t flip out.” FP let out a small chuckle as he grabbed her hand and fiddled with it in his own.

“Can I ask you something?” He wondered as he looked to her on his left.

“What?” She hated when people started conversations like that. Her heart pounded in nervous anticipation.

“Do you realize the way you talk to him?” His heart pounded, hoping he wouldn’t upset her.

“What do you mean?” She asked cluelessly.

“Your voice.” He pointed out. “It went up like five octaves the moment he stepped in the room. Last night I thought it was just because you were embarrassed he walked in on us cuddling, but you did again this morning.”

“Did I?”

“Yeah...I just…” He looked down at the floor beneath them and sighed. “It’s almost like you talk to him like he’s a baby.” He watched her look away from him as she thought about it. “It’s okay. I’m just making sure you’re aware.” He kissed the top of her head before continuing to play with her hand.

“I didn’t even realize…” She began, but she stopped mid sentence, feeling something as she fiddled with FP’s hand as well. “You-” She looked down at his left hand in hers. She retracted her head a bit, looking into his eyes beside her. She couldn’t believe she didn’t notice it last night. “You’re still wearing yours.” She pointed out his wedding ring. FP sighed. “Why are you-” She stopped, moving over a bit before standing up, looking down at him on the last two steps. “You’re still married, aren’t you?” Her heart began to pound out of rhythm with anything else.

“Alice...Gladys hasn’t sent the signed papers back yet.” He rested his elbows on his knees for a moment as he looked up at her. Alice began to pace in her little area in front of the stairs. “It’s okay. Soon she’ll send them and we’ll figure it out from there.” He watched her internally panicking. “Alice...Alice.” He stood up, grabbing ahold of her hands as she refused to look him in the eye.

“No, no.” She shook her head. “FP...you don’t understand. What we did last night. That should not have happened.” She pulled away from him, finally looking up into his eyes with teary ones. “You have to go.”

“Ali, I-”

“No!” She pointed at him, more tears welling up. “Don’t call me that.” She let out one broken sob. “You have to go…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “...before he finds out.”

“Before who finds out?” FP asked, more than confused all of a sudden.

“The Black Hood, FP!”

“Alice...the Black Hood is dead.” He moved in closer to her again, holding her shoulders this time.

“FP…” She began. “I haven’t spoken to anyone about this.” She continued to whisper as if paranoid someone could hear them. “But I don’t think they caught the right one.”

“What?” FP stepped back, letting his arms fall to his sides.

“Come on...don’t tell me you didn’t have your own suspicions about the janitor.” She blinked quickly as her tears eventually disappeared and she stopped herself from crying. “None of it really added up.” It was silent for a moment as she watched him think to himself about everything. “FP….” She whispered again. “What we did was a sin. We committed adultery. For all we know...the real Black Hood could have seen your truck out there last night and this morning and he’s plotting his next murder….You or me.”

“Alice...calm down...we don’t even know if that’s true.” He tried stepping in closer to her again and she backed away, avoiding his touch, though she longed for it.

“You have to go.” She said once more, her eyes welling up again. “I’m sorry.” She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to look at him while he stood there, staring at her. After another moment or so, FP let out a pained sigh and he left the Cooper, now Smith, residence.

Later on that day, Alice found herself wallowing in the emptiness of her house once again, so she headed out for the Register, wanting to get a head start on some things for the upcoming week. She knew Hal wouldn’t come in on the weekend, so she took pride in her step as she approached the building with her keys to unlock it.

She spent most of the afternoon spell-checking her other employees’ articles while procrastinating her own work. She looked down at her empty ring finger, seeing the tan line from her old wedding ring. She laid her head back in her chair, putting both hands to her head as she sighed with irritation. Of course. Right when things started to go well again…..

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the Register’s back door. She jumped at the sound and turned to look at it. She spun around in her chair before standing up, hesitantly walking over to it. Whomever was on the other side knocked again and she jumped once more, feeling her still sore legs shake beneath her. “Hello?” She nervously called through the door, expecting the real Black Hood to barge in and slit her throat.

“Alice, it’s me.”

“FP?” She furrowed her brows in confusion, opening the door a crack to look at him and she sighed, opening it more to let him in. “What are you doing here?” She shut the door, locking it and turning to face him with her hands on her hips. “You shouldn’t be here. What if-”

“I walked.” He responded. “So, the ‘Black Hood,’ if he’s still out there, won’t know I’m here.” He paused, seeing her hands in tight fists. “And that’s why I came through the back door. Did I scare you?” He tried not to laugh, but a small chuckle escaped his disobedient lips.

“What? Psh! No.” She rolled her eyes, walking by him and sitting back in her chair, spinning it to face the computer again. “What are you doing here, Forsythe?” She put her hand on the mouse, returning her glasses to her face and clicking through Monday’s obituary section.

“I wanted to come see how you were doing?” He walked around her desk to look down at her while she continued to read the screen.

“I’m fine.” She acted stoic.

“You’re not fine.” He knelt down in front of her chair, taking her knees in his hands and turning the chair to force her to look at him. He leaned up, taking her lips into his mouth and she almost refused to kiss him back. “Hey.” He said, pulling out of the kiss. “Look.” He pulled off the wedding ring and set it on the desk beside her mouse. “I’m done with her. I am.” He watched as Alice let out a small sob, closing her eyes and letting a single tear fall. “I’m not done with you. I never was.” He reached up, wiping away her tear with his thumb before pulling off her glasses.

FP leaned up, kissing her again and his hand found its way to her left breast, feeling her nipple harden beneath her baby blue blouse. Her eyes closed and she took in a deep breath before he slid his tongue down to her neck. He gave her a small bite and she squealed. She wanted to put her arms around him, but he pinned her hands down onto the arms of the chair and she squeezed them tightly, feeling herself growing wet. Chills crawled up and down her spine when he sucked on her neck and slithered down to the floor once again, basically under the desk.

He skillfully removed her underwear from underneath her skirt, setting it on the floor beside him as she kept her eyes closed her legs opened. His tongue slid up her thigh and made its way to her core where she needed him most. She held onto his head before his fingers moved to find her clit and she gasped upon the contact.

Alice felt a cool breeze and she opened her eyes to see her ex husband outside the glass door, heading into the building. “FP!” She tried to whisper, though she was too entranced by her pleasure to properly speak. “Hal’s here!” She tried again, but failed. Panic took over her and she pushed her chair in a bit more, hiding FP completely under her desk. “Mmmm…” She tried her best not to moan. “Hi, Hal.” She said, her body growing uncomfortably warm as FP halted for only a second below her. When her hand pat him on the head, he continued and Alice did her best not to smile.

“Alice.” Hal said, stepping over to his own desk.

“Mmm...what are you doing here?” She cleared her throat, her face growing red as she did her best to act natural.

“I left my tablet here the other day, is that okay with you?” Mr. Cooper stepped over to his desk, grabbing the tablet from it and turning to leave again, but he stopped when Alice giggled. “Are you okay? You’re a little red in the face.” He asked with a look of suspicion.

“Mhm….It’s just a little warm in here.” She lied, wanting nothing more than to let out a whimper of pleasure.

Hal squinted down at her before his eyes fell to the male wedding ring on the desk beside her mouse. He raised a confused eyebrow before turning and heading out of the Register. Alice let out a sigh of relief and release when she soon hit her climax. She was grateful Hal had left when he did so she could happily moan FP’s name. “Oh, thank god!” She lulled her head back while FP finished with her and she moved the chair so he could be seen again. “That was fucking close.” She whispered to him with a giggle before kissing him. “You’re gonna wear me out, aren’t you?” She asked him, her hand underneath his chin.

“Only if you want me to.” FP admitted, sending her a large grin.

They both laughed and kissed again, giddier than a bunch of teens.

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, guys!!!! I hope you liked this chapter. I know it was super raunchy with Hal being there, but I just couldn’t resist. Please leave some reviews. Thanks so much for sticking with me! I love you all. MWAH!**


	7. Touched

“Soooo….how long do I have to sit down here?” FP asked from his spot on the floor behind Alice’s desk. 

“Shhh…” Alice demanded from her desk as she continued to type up her next article. 

“Alice?” He tried getting her attention. A smile grew on his face as he looked up at her in her desk chair, concentrating. Her concentration face seemed so cute to him and he couldn’t help let himself fall a little more in love with her there. She pushed her glasses up a bit more on her face and he swooned. “Alice?” He tried again. His hand fell to her knee and she brushed it off.

“FP, not right now.” She whispered, trying her best to keep her eyes on her computer screen.

“Why are we whispering?” He teased with a chuckle. 

“Forsythe, I am trying to concentrate.” She practically whined like a sad teenager.

“Ali….this floor is uncomfortable!” He whined in the same voice to mock her.

“Well...you’re not sitting up here.” She shook her head, still typing. “We’re not risking the Black Hood seeing us together.”

“Alice, you’re starting to sound paranoid.” He admitted from the concrete floor beneath her.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, ripping off her glasses and turning her chair to look down at him all in one motion. “FP, we can’t be together, alright? What happened last night put us in danger. Put you in danger. And what happened twenty minutes ago, that….” She stopped, looking down as her cheeks grew red. She remembered the look on Hal’s face just before he left and she questioned if he suspected anything. “FP, that was wrong. We shouldn’t have let it happen. I shouldn’t have.”

“Ali, Ali…” He ignored her demand to stay hidden and he stood, leaning into her chair to softly kiss her. “Everything’s gonna be okay.” He kissed her mouth once more before kissing her on the cheek and then the forehead. “I hate seeing you so worried.” He sent her a comforting smile and she gave him a weak, fake one. “Can I please sit in a chair now?” 

Alice’s little smile grew to a playful one and she pushed her chair away from him. Her right leg slowly lifted and she placed her high heel on his chest. “No.” She winked. “Sit back down, FP Jones.” Her voice sounded seductive and she gently pushed him with her foot before he obeyed.

He couldn’t help but laugh when he returned to his hidden spot on the floor and Alice placed her glasses back over her eyes and she resumed working on her article. 

Later on, she finally finished and set the articles in the bin for Monday’s paper. FP stayed on the floor, looking at stuff on his phone before he looked up to see Alice standing in front of him. Her hands were on her hips and she looked down on him with a sigh. “What am I gonna do with you, Jones?” 

“Hmm….there’s a few things I can think of where you and I-” She bent over to smack his shoulder. “Hey!” He laughed.

“I’m being serious, Forsythe.” She laughed as well, though she tried her best to remain stern. “We can’t leave together. And I can’t drive around back to pick you up. Anyone could easily see that.”

“Well,” He began to stand but then he remembered she wouldn’t allow it. “...I could just walk home to grab my truck and we can meet somewhere.” He suggested.

“FP.” She whispered, stressfully looking up at the ceiling. “We’re not doing this, okay?” She looked back down to him with sad eyes. “I’m not putting you in danger.”

“We won’t be in danger. Especially if we’re careful….We can come up with a plan.” He crawled closer to her, putting his hands on the side of her thighs. He looked up at her with pleading, childish eyes. “Please? Are you gonna make me beg?” He blinked his big brown puppy dog eyes at her and she melted inside, staring at the wall ahead of her so as not to be persuaded.

“FP….” She began. Her stomach flipped as her heart sank and she felt her eyes welling up again.

“Ali, I don’t wanna miss you again.” 

His words caused her to audibly gasp and both her hands moved up to cover her mouth. Why was this always so hard? Why were they constantly being tested and forced apart? Just thinking about being away from him again hurt her more than the first time. She wasn’t sure if she could take that again. Making him leave her house that morning was hard enough. What had she done to deserve this being ripped apart from everyone she loved? First FP as a teen….Then Chic….Then her mother and father passed away….Then Polly….Then Betty began to pull away from her….Then Polly again….Then Hal….Now FP again? What was it? What? 

She reached down to put her hands over FP’s on her thighs and she looked down at him as a tear escaped her eye. Her fingers intertwined with his and she let herself feel the warmth that radiated throughout her body as they touched. “Fuck!” She said in an exasperated whisper and she pulled his hands off of her before kneeling in front of him. She took his hands and wrapped them around her back, forcing him to hug her. Her own hands moved up to hold his shoulders and their noses almost touched. She hummed with a saddened smile and her eyes closed for a brief moment. “Mmmmm….FP Jones.” She said with such love and relaxation in her tone before her eyes opened again. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into begging to stay with me.”

“I remember.” He giggled, touching his nose to hers. “You’re worth it.” 

Her smile grew and she moved her lips to graze his. She refused to kiss him for a moment as she listened to his breathing and her eyes closed again. Soon, she felt his tongue upon her lower lip and she let it in, reciprocating. It was a gentle kiss at first, but soon it metastasized to be more intense and passionate. Alice’s hands grabbed ahold of the fabric of his shirt upon his shoulders. He slowly moved a hand down to rest upon the crease of her lower back and she whimpered into his mouth.

“Wait, wait.” She pulled out of the kiss, trying to catch her breath as she stopped his hand. “Not here.” She whispered, looking around the Register with its tall glass windows and doors. Her eyes lit up and she grinned. “I have an idea.” 

It wasn’t long before the both of them were in the back storage room, on top of the old and broken copy machine. Alice’s sore muscles screamed as loud as she did, but she ignored them, continuing to claw at FP’s dark red flannel as he made her cum three times in the same fuck.


	8. The Last Of Me

Two weeks had passed and FP Jones and Alice Smith had spent most of their spare time sneaking around and following a precise plan for meet ups. Alice would leave work at her normal time and drive home the days she didn’t have Betty and Chic was working. Little did anyone know that FP had walked, taking back roads and smaller streets to the Register to sneak into Alice’s car, hiding in the back seats on the floor so he could go to her house unseen. The nights that he worked at Pop’s, she would bring her work to the diner and sit in a booth while they made eyes at each other and he swept. After his shifts were over, she’d just happen to head out to her car the same time he went out to the truck and they’d take two opposite routes to an empty spot of Eversgreen Forest where they’d hide their vehicles deep in the woods. Often times, Alice would meet him at his truck, parking her car far from his. Some nights they’d spend inside his truck doing things they barely remembered doing as teens and other nights, they’d just lay on the hood of one of their cars, staring up at the stars, lying side by side. They both felt like forbidden, giddy teens again and they revelled in it. But not for long.

“Alice….” Hal said in his usually irritating voice one morning while his ex stepped into the Register.

“What is it, Hal?” She rolled her eyes, turning at her desk to look over at him near his.

“When was the last time you replaced the ink cartridges in the new copier?”

“I don’t know. Probably a couple weeks ago. Why?” She wondered, beginning to unbutton her jacket as she set her purse down on the chair behind her desk.

“Well...apparently it’s jammed.” He leaned a hand on his desk as he stared her down with accusation.

“And you’re blaming me?” She stopped unbuttoning halfway down her coat as she glared at him with annoyance.

“Well...someone had to have done it.”

“Why don’t you ask Katrina?” Alice accused one of their new secretaries.

“Because she knows not to touch that new copier.” Hal pointed to the machine behind them.

“Well, I don’t know what to say, Hal.” She responded with the same amount of hostility. Hal opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by the ringing of Alice’s cell phone. She put up a finger to stop him from speaking as she answered it. “Hello?....This is her….What?....Is she okay?.....I’m on my way!” She quickly hung up, rebuttoning up her coat and picking up her purse. “Hal, something happened at the school.”

“What?” The panic in his voice overpowered Alice’s irritation with him.

“We need to go get Betty. Now.” Alice headed for the door, not even waiting for him and she hopped in her own car, driving off as Hal soon followed, quickly locking up the Register before he left.

They made it to the school where the Parking Lot was filled with parents, teachers, and students. Sheriff Keller and a few of his officers headed under the yellow caution tape just outside the school doors and into the front door of Riverdale High.

“Elizabeth…” Alice and Hal rushed over to their youngest daughter who stood with the group of her friends and their parents.

“Betty, what happened?” Hal wondered as his eyes fell upon Penelope with Cheryl some feet away.

“Are you okay?” Her mother frantically wondered.

“We’re fine, Mom. It’s…” Betty’s eyes looked away for a moment. “The Black Hood.”

“What?!” Alice’s eyes widened and she felt her heart stop as she nervously swallowed.

“What about the Black Hood?” Hal wondered.

“He’s back.” Jughead responded with terror.

“Ladies and gentlemen! If I could please have your attention!” Principal Weatherbee announced from near the entrance to the school. Sheriff Keller walked out of the school, joining he and Mayor McCoy. “Due to the events of today, we would like for each of you to take your children home for the remainder of the day. Classes are dismissed for today and tomorrow until further notice!” He yelled while everyone listened.

“And we would also like to point out that just because there are allegations that the Black Hood may be back...does not mean they are true.” Mayor Sierra McCoy jumped in. “There’s no need to panic. This may just be a copycat or someone playing a sick joke.” She added.

“What allegations, Mayor McCoy?” Reggie’s mother asked from the crowd.

“What’s happened?” Mrs. Muggs spoke up.

“We will start an ongoing investigation into today’s events and-” Sheriff Keller began.

“Hold on, hold on!” Fred Andrews interrupted. “Answer the question.”

“Yeah!” All the other parents chimed in.

“We’re sick of being left out in all of this Black Hood stuff!” Fred continued. “I was the first Black Hood victim and I’m pretty sure I know the least about all of this. Enough is enough! We wanna know more!”

“We demand to know more!” Mrs. Muggs yelled again.

“Alright, alright. Everyone calm down! As soon as we know more...you will all be informed, but for right now...please...take your sons and daughters home and know that each of them are safe.” Mayor McCoy took charge again and the crowd broke out in a disappointed mumble. “Please!” She shouted and soon, parents and students separated, heading for their respected vehicles.

“Mom.” Betty began, grabbing Alice’s arm, trying to back away. “Mom, come on.”

“You go with your father, Elizabeth.” Alice said, staring at the yellow tape near the front door. “I’ve got something I’d like to talk to Mayor McCoy about.” She squinted, never taking her eyes off of the high school’s entrance.

“Come on, Betty.” Hal finally got his daughter and her boyfriend to leave with him. The three of them hopped into Hal’s car and they drove away while Betty stared out the window at Alice with suspicion.

Once the car was gone, Alice let out a loud sigh and she headed toward the building. She watched Mayor McCoy, Sheriff Keller and Principal Weatherbee carefully as she slipped by them during their intense conversation. She ducked underneath the yellow tape and made her way into the school, passing by multiple police officers. She judged them silently, not surprised that the Real Black Hood wasn’t caught according to their lack of paying attention.

When she made it to her first intersection, she looked down both sides of the hall, wondering which way to turn. She saw one side filled with more cops than the other and decided to head down that side. Making it all the way down to the end of the hall, she jumped at the sound of someone shouting her name from the entrance. She turned to see Tom Keller looking at her from further down the hall and she quickly turned, following her steps further toward the plethora of other officers. “Alice Cooper! I said stop!” Keller’s voice shouted after her as he sped up to catch her. “You can’t be in here! I know you hear me!”

Alice finally made her way to the largest group of policemen and she turned to look into the classroom that they stared into. Her jaw dropped immediately at what she saw. Tom caught up to her and stood diagonally behind her, looking in as well. “Is that-” Alice began.

Tom sighed, putting his hands on his hips behind her with his response. “Joseph Svenson.”

“The janitor?” Alice looked at him over her shoulder. “I thought he-”

Tom nodded with irritation. “He did. He did. His body went missing from the morgue a couple days ago. Looks like we know why now.” He looked back into the classroom where, right over the teacher’s desk, hung the old janitor’s body.

On the whiteboard behind him, written in blood, read, “The sins in this town have only grown. You have not seen the last of me.”

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, readers. Boy, what a jerk I am for that (sort of) cliffhanger, right? Lol New chapter ASAP. Love you guys! MWAH!**


	9. Too Much

“Don’t you ever listen to authority, Alice?” Tom Keller asked from behind the journalist who stood, still staring at the dangling corpse and the bloody words. 

“Hm? What?” She blinked out of it, turning around to finally face him. 

“You didn’t hear me calling ‘Alice Cooper! Alice Cooper!?’” Sheriff Keller mocked his own voice.

“Oh.” She shook her head, responding with a snarky remark, as usual. “See...I’m Alice Smith now...I didn’t realize you were talkin’ to me.” She sent him a conniving smile before patting him on the stomach and turning to head out of the building again.

“Oh, sure!” Tom yelled down the hall from behind her. “No one just forgets the last name they went by for almost twenty years, Alice! Especially not you!” His voice grew louder the farther away Alice got from him. 

She smiled to herself as she made her way down the halls and out of the school. She sighed, saddened by the terrible news that the Black Hood was still amongst them and she immediately grew panicked at the confirmation of her suspicion. Walking toward her vehicle, a sudden heat arose in her nervous, suddenly shaking body as she remembered what this might mean. 

Later on that night, Hal dropped Betty and Jughead off at Alice’s house and they started a game of “Life” after dinner. Alice worked on the dishes as she waited for news about another kill in town. She looked over at the kids, saying a silent prayer to herself, hoping none of them would be the next ones hurt. She watched Betty and Jughead, missing the days that she was like that with FP out in the open. The secret relationship was fun, but also a little sad. When she saw other parents in town, they’d look at her with either shame or pity for having been divorced. Most blame her for the split and judge her for it. Others feel bad for her and she can see it in their eyes. She doesn’t want them to feel bad for her. She has more than they know. Only they can’t know. 

With a sigh, she dried her hands after turning on the dishwasher and she headed into the living room to sit in her chair with her favorite book, but there was a knock on the door. With caution, she looked through the peephole, hoping not to see a masked man. Instead, it was another man entirely. Her man. Her secret man. 

But what was he doing here? No. He couldn’t be seen at her house. Not by anyone. She couldn’t trust anyone nor could she trust that she weren’t being spied on by the Black Hood. She internally panicked, not wanting to open the door, but knowing that she must. 

“FP.” She whispered, opening the door. 

“Hey, Dad!” Jughead said with a smile when he saw him. 

“Hey, Jug.” He smiled. “Will you kids be good here alone for a while?”

“Mhm.” Betty smiled, making her next move. 

“Why?” Chic wondered.

“Your mom and I have something we need to take care of.” FP responded with his hands on his hips. 

“What would you two need to take care of?” Jughead asked with a hint of shock in his tone.

“I need to take Alice to get a new part for her car. She thinks the brakes have been going and she’ll be able to tell Dave more about what’s been going on then I will since I’ve never been in her car before.” He chuckled, looking to Alice who stared at him, suddenly impressed with his fake story. 

“Are you sure we can’t go when the kids are at school, FP?” She asked, squinting at him. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving them alone here.”

“If we wait any longer, Alice, your brakes may have completely gone and killed you.” He did his best to send her a look to get her to agree. “No. I’m not waiting any longer. It better be as soon as possible. And that’s right now.” 

“It’s okay, Mrs. Cooper.” Chic said as he made his next move on the game board. “We’ll keep all the windows and doors locked and we won’t let ANYONE in.”

Alice looked at him with fear. “You promise?” She basically whined.

“Yes, we promise.” Betty replied with a nod and a small chuckle. “Go on.”

Alice sadly looked to FP who was still smiling at her and she hesitated to go, but with a sigh, she found herself following him out the door. “Please call us if you need anything.” She begged Elizabeth who nodded again before the front door to the house was closed.

They were silent walking down the stairs to FP’s truck and silent as he pulled away. “Good cover story, huh?” FP smiled at her from the driver’s seat.

“FP, I don’t think we should still be doing this?” Alice finally spoke up.

“Doing what?”

“This sneaking around. It’s getting too dangerous. Especially now that the Black Hood is back.” She admitted.

“Wait, he’s back for real? I thought that was just a rumor going around town.”

“No, really. I was there. I saw it.”

“Saw what?”

“The corpse that the Black Hood left dangling in one of our children’s classrooms today. I saw it with my own eyes, FP. He’s back.” She shook her head with disappointment looking down into her lap. “He never left.” 

They pulled into FP’s trailer park and he shut off the truck, turning to look at her in the passenger seat. She was staring out the window with pensive eyes and a hand over her mouth as she pondered what they should do. She knew the safest thing would be to end it, but she knew how much more painful it would be the second time around. She felt his hand on her knee and she turned to look at him. Faking a weak smile, she sighed, putting her hand on the door handle to open it and they both got out, looking around to make sure no one followed them and they rushed inside. When they stepped in and locked the door, FP placed a comforting hand on her lower back. 

“Alice…” He began and she turned to look up into his eyes. “....I know you’re worried. But as far as we know...we’ve been pretty careful. No one knows about us.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know that Jughead and Betty know nothing. And they live with us.” He chuckled. “And Chic hasn’t told anyone.”

“As far as we know.” She tilted her head.

“Yes...as far as we know.” He put both hands around her, pulling her body close to his. “Let’s not panic until we’re certain other people know, okay?”

“No.” She pulled away from him, raising her voice. “It’s not okay, FP. None of this is okay! What if-” She stopped and her horrified eyes gazed into his worried ones.

“What if what, Alice?”

Her eyes welled up with tears and her lip quivered as she fought back tears. She avoided eye contact with him as she looked to the floor, continuing. She whispered. “What if he finds out about what Chic did?” Her hands fell to her hips and she kicked at the floor. “What WE did? Hiding the body?” She finally looked back up at him and a tear fell. “That’s probably one of the worst sins...Murder? What if Chic is the next target? What if Betty or Jughead are?” 

“Hey, hey, hey, hey.” FP stepped closer to her, holding her in his arms. “Sh!” He ran his fingers through her hair to calm her down and she deeply inhaled. 

“I can’t do this anymore, FP. I can’t. It’s all too much.” She pulled out of the hug. “You and I have to stop.” She shook her head. “We can’t keep doing this.” She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and ripped off the bandaid. “It’s over, FP. For good this time.”

When she opened her eyes, she broke, feeling her heart shatter by the pained look in his eyes. “We-” FP felt a lump in his throat, his eyes filling with tears of his own. “Well, I can’t do that.”

“We have to.”

“No.” He shook his head with intense refusal. “No.”

“Yes, we-” 

“I CAN’T!” He shouted.

“AND WHY NOT!?” She shouted back, more tears falling.

“Because I-” He stopped, taking a moment to watch the tears roll down her face and he felt his own fall. What he said next came out with immense speed and she almost didn’t understand him. “Because I love you too fucking much!” With that, she rushed over to her, taking her face in his hands and giving her one of the most passionate kisses she’d ever received. Both sobbed behind the kiss and Alice whimpered with sorrow as she realized, so did she.


	10. Finally

He tasted the salt of her tears as she tasted his. Involuntarily, her hands reached up to hold his upon her face. Holding her cheeks, he felt the tears that dripped down his hands. He only broke the kiss for a moment to repeat what he had finally said aloud. “I love you, Ali.” He whispered, giving her a peck kiss. “I really do.” He kissed her again. “I always have.” He said as he shook his head and kissed her again. “I know you love me too.” His hands moved to her hair before she slithered out of his grip.

“No, no. We can’t….we can’t do this.” She wiped away her tears and stepped away from him, looking down to the floor as she shook her head. “You….you sit there and I’ll sit here.” She led him to the chair across from the sofa, forcing him to sit down on it before she made her way to the couch, sitting on it herself. “We can’t rationalize everything with sex, FP.”

“This isn’t about sex.” He said as he finally wiped away his own tears. “This is about my heart. Our souls.”

“It isn’t.” She tried to deny.

“It is.” He put a hand on the back of his neck as he looked down. “Alice, I know you’re scared. I’m scared too.”

Alice scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “Scared of what?”

“The truth.” FP looked back at her across from him.

“And the truth is?”

“That we gave up too soon. And we were the cause of our own pain back then.” He knew he was right the moment Alice averted her eyes from his. “The truth that no matter how much time went by...neither of us received our hearts again. I’ve been holding yours for twenty years and you’ve been holding mine. I know I’m not alone in this. I see it in your eyes. I see it in your body when you’re near me. Your whole attitude changes when I’m there.” He watched her continue to avoid eye contact with him entirely as he resumed. “I’ve seen you with those Northside broads. You turn to full body eye rolls and rely on sarcastic, snarky insults as a method to cope with what you’re feeling inside.”

“And what am I feeling inside?” She asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Empty.” FP received a look that could kill from the woman across from him, but he refused to let up. “I’ve felt that way ever since the moment you walked out on me.” He looked away for a moment, but his eyes fell back to hers. “I don’t blame you for leaving. I don’t. But what I do blame you for is for trying to pretend like our relationship didn’t mean anything to you. That it still doesn’t. You and I don’t have to be empty. We can be whole. Our emptiness has stemmed from the fact that neither of us have had our hearts since the day we met. And when you left...you left with mine, leaving yours behind. So we’ve never felt complete. And the only times we do is when we’re together. Because we’re finally closer to our own hearts. And I’m not gonna lie….I don’t want mine back.” It grew silent as he awaited her response. “So, no….This isn’t about sex, Alice. This is about our completion.”

“Maybe.” She slightly shrugged one shoulder. “But that still doesn’t negate the fact that you’re still married and sleeping together is still a sin.”

“Fine then…” He leaned back in the chair, feeling the cushion of it behind him. “We don’t have to sleep together. Until the divorce anyway…..” He rubbed his chin, feeling the need to shave, but ignoring the urge. “It’s gonna be hard as hell, but I can be good at keeping my hands off of you.” FP’s eyes lingered for a moment and he looked her up and down with a playful smile.

She tried to seem annoyed, but soon, a tickled grin grew upon her face. “Well...if you can do it...then I can do it.” She challenged.

“Oh yeah?” He wondered, sitting in a more relaxed position. “You sure about that?”

“Oh, I’m more than sure….In fact...I think you’d cave way before I would.” She tapped her forefinger on her own bicep as her arms were still folded over her chest.

“Oh, no.” He chuckled. “You would definitely cave first.”

“What makes you say that?” Alice wondered with a raised eyebrow and a curled lip.

“The way you’re looking at me right now.” He hissed with a laugh.

Alice squinted at him as her smile faded and she thought of a way to prove him wrong. Her eyes scaled the room before she smirked to herself and slowly uncrossed her arms. “You really think that I would cave before you?” She adjusted herself on the couch, scooting forward a bit so her buttocks was just barely on the edge of the sofa. FP nodded as he watched her hands seductively move up to reach the buttons on her shirt. Slowly undoing each one, she studied his face as his eyes fell to her hands. “Are you...positive….FP Jones?” Her voice dropped to a low sultry one as she made the process increasingly painful for him. Unfastening each button with care and leisure, ever so slowly exposing her cleavage.

Forsythe the Second shook his head, attempting to snap out of his daze as his imagination ran wild, watching her every move. He cleared his throat before crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back comfortably in the chair. He shrugged his shoulders with a tilt of his head. “Not gonna work.”

“I’m sorry, FP.” She noticed that he looked away from her when she made it to the very last button and she slowly slid the blouse down her shoulders. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” She asked with a grin.

“No. Not at all.” He lied, letting his eyes look to her once and he took in a deep breath when he saw her in her bra. “Okay...you wanna play?” He quickly unbuttoned his flannel, took it off, and pulled his white t-shirt over his head, leaving him topless in the chair across from her.

Alice looked down at his chiseled chest and she teasingly shrugged. “Eh….Not doing much for me.” She joked to irritate him.

“Oh yeah?” He asked, standing up across from her. “What about this?” He undid his belt and slid it off with anger, knowing his bad boy aggression would get her old teenage persona’s attention and it did. When he pulled off his belt, he pulled it together in his hands, receiving that loud snap that he hoped for and Alice quickly swallowed as she looked up at him.

With a difficult inhale, Alice cleared her throat, pretending not to be bothered although it slightly aroused her and she briefly closed her eyes before sending him a glare. “S & M never worked on me.” She lied, fighting the urge to bite her bottom lip.

“Well…” FP said, sitting down again as if it were no problem. “You sitting there in your bra isn’t gonna get me to break either so I guess we’re just stuck here.

“Oh, no.” She laughed as if he were being too cute for her. “I never said I was done.”

“Oh yeah? You’ve got some big idea that’ll make me just HAVE to have you?” He asked with a chuckle.

Alice adorably, but deviously, shrugged one of her shoulders as her eyes blinked while it moved. “I think I’ve got a pretty good one.” She said, sitting there in her white laced bra as she wickedly smiled at him from across the room.

“And what’s that?” FP asked, keeping his eyes up as best as he could.

“I’d rather not say.” She spoke slowly, but enticingly as she placed her right pointer and middle fingers casually into her own mouth, maintaining eye contact with him in the process. She licked the whole of her fingers before slowly sliding them out of her mouth.

“Not...Not working.” FP shook his head, feeling his body grow warm.

The moment her fingers exited her mouth, she squinted at him and slightly shook her head. “I’m still not done yet.” A smile, almost evil in its ways, gradually appeared over her mouth as he nervously stared at her lips. Afraid to know what she was planning, FP carefully watched her, now wet, fingers slide down her bare collar bone, making their way down her cleavage and eventually to the waistband of Alice’s own skirt.

“That’s not fair.” He finally admitted, almost forfeiting in that moment.

“Come on now, Jones.” She sensually whipped her hair out of her face with a shake of her head, keeping her hand at the top of her skirt. “Don’t give up so soon.” She tilted her head to the side, letting her golden hair hover over her bare shoulder in a way that caused FP’s body temperature to rise as well as something else. He continued to watch her hand as it slid under her skirt and panties to touch herself in front of him.

FP was sure this should disqualify her, but instead of complaining about it since he was speechless, he decided to watch and see how far she would go before she gave upon him...Or how long he could go without finally breaking. His eyes fell to different areas of her body as she pleasured herself and he bit one of his own finger nails with difficulty and anticipation. He watched her face as her eyes closed and her head fell back slightly, letting out a soft hum of satisfaction. His eyes moved again to see her legs slightly opening and closing in front of him and he knew that soon, he was going to cave.

Alice could feel his eyes on her and it aroused her even more, waiting for him to come to her, though he was lasting longer than she’d expected he could. She needed him for her release, but she didn’t want to ask him. She opened her lustful eyes and stared into his desirable ones. She quickened her motions, causing her to moan, hoping it would kill him even more and urge him to go to her. She could see him fully grown across from her and she felt more than impressed by his endurance and ability to contain himself. Finally, she realized how much she needed him in many different ways and she whispered his name, calling for him to help her. “FP.” She barely choked out, feeling her walls begin to close around her own fingers. “Fuck!” She moaned and FP removed his jeans, finally joining her on the couch.

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, readers. I know this chapter got realllyy steamy and quite raunchy, even for me. I’m usually not so comfortable writing such intense smut, but it’s for my favorite friends! Shoutout to all the Dumbasses in my Twitter group chat! I love y’all and I hope you appreciate me doing this and writing this type of stuff for you. Haha I also hope you guys liked FP’s heart to heart before things got out of hand in this one. Lol Let me know in the comments, please! I really crave the reviews! A new chapter should be up in a few days! I love you all! MWAH!**


	11. Say Something

FP and Alice finally slowed their breathing as they lay there on the couch, FP hovering over Alice while they kissed. Her hands slowly caressed his back, holding him tightly to her.  
“We did it again.” She whispered when she eventually caught her breath.

“Did what?” He smiled down at her, pushing one of her stray hairs behind her ear.

She pursed her lips together for a moment before she let out a small laugh. “We didn’t use a condom.” She whispered again.

“Oh. Oops!” He sat up, pulling her up with him, but they stayed eerily close to each other. Their noses almost touched and he gazed lovingly into her breathtaking blue eyes, his thumb rubbing circles on her cheek. “Alice?” His other hand held onto hers in his lap while he fiddled with her tiny fingers. “Do you think you could do me a favor?” He softly whispered before nervously swallowing.

Alice, who had been staring down at his lips, put her free hand in his hair. “Hmm?”

“Be my wife?”

The moment he said it, her eyes shot up to look into his scared brown ones and she felt electricity in her stomach moving up into her chest to give her heart a jumpstart. “What?” She nervously swallowed as well.

His eyes closed as he slightly shook his head. “I love you, Ali. I fucking love you so much it hurts. You’ve always been my woman.” He finally opened his eyes and he found it hard to read hers. “I don’t want to upset you, but I think you need to know.”

“Need to know what?” She wondered.

“Everytime someone would ask me about my wife, Gladys….my mind went straight to you. Ever since we were thirteen, the word ‘wife’ meant you. I need that to be true. I need you. Would you marry me, Alice? Could you make this dream be real?” He continued to caress her cheek with his thumb as his eyes wandered to every inch of her face, taking in her beauty.

It grew painfully silent and they just sat there. Alice looked down at their hands, fingers intertwined and unwilling to let go. She felt a lump in her throat and she swallowed one more time, taking in a deep breath as if to absorb his courage. She let go of his hand and placed both on each side of his face while she gazed into his tender eyes. She moved in just a bit closer, letting their noses touch and her eyes closed before she barely brushed his lips with her own.

“Please say something.” He begged with a nervous giggle.

“FP Jones.” She hummed with her eyes still closed. “You were once my rock, my good place, MY dream.” She opened her eyes, seeing the terror and hope in his. Her right hand slid down his cheek to hold his neck. She sighed and FP’s heart sunk. “Things are so complicated right now. You’re still married and now the Black Hood is back and we’ve got the kids to think about. You’ve got your wife...your REAL wife to think about. And though I was always in love with you….I did just get out of a long and difficult, to say the least, marriage. I’m not ready for another one.” She sadly looked down, not wanting to see the heartbreak in his face.

FP disappointedly looked down as well with a scoff. “You said ‘was.’” He felt tears welling up in his eyes.

“Hm?” She watched his hand fiddle with her skirt.

“You said ‘I WAS always in love with you.’”

The sorrow in his voice almost broke her and she gasped. “No, FP. No.” She lifted his chin, forcing him to look at her weak smile. “I am MORE than in love with you still.” He raised his eyebrows for a second before looking away from her again, still feeling her rejection. “This is not my final answer, FP. This is just my answer now. Will I ever be your wife? Yes.” He looked back into her eyes with a dash of more hope. “Can it be right now? No.” She reached down, taking hold of his left hand and in her right one and she guided it to her hip, holding it there for a second. “Ask me again when the time is right. You’ll get the answer you want. I promise you.” She slid her hand down his forearm and up to his bicep, letting it slither underneath his short sleeve to feel his bare shoulder. “You’re my man, FP.” She said with no doubt in her mind. “And I can’t wait to call you my husband.”

When FP saw the large grin that grew upon Alice’s face, he couldn’t help but send her one as well and he pulled her into his lap with a kiss as she straddled him. She hummed into his mouth as he held her tightly to him. “Do you have to go home?” He whined when they broke the kiss.

Alice sighed. “Yes, I do. I don’t trust the kids alone with the Black Hood being back. You know how they love investigating and putting themselves in danger.”

“Yeah. We need to talk to them about that.” He smiled up at her. “They seem to think they’re invincible or something. I don’t know what it is.”

“Oh, really?” She laughed. “You don’t?” She leaned back, placing her hands on her hips. “Do you remember us in high school? We thought that we could take on the world, just the two of us.”

“We could’ve if we wanted to.” He put his arms through hers, wrapping his hands around her back.

“We really could have.” She agreed with a bright smile before giggling. She moved her hands from her hips to hold his face again. “I really love you, Forsythe Pendleton.”

They kissed.

“And I love you, Alice Helen Smith.”

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, guys. I know that this chapter was quite short, but I thought it ended perfectly. The next chapter should be up soon to make up for it. I love you all so much. MWAH!**


	12. The Open Door

The next day, FP showed up at the Smith/Cooper house unexpectedly once again. Alice glared at him when she opened the door, hoping he could read in her eyes that this was not going to become a recurring thing. “Hey, are you ready?” He asked her as if she knew what he was talking about.

“Ready for what?” Betty asked from inside the house at the dining room table.

“Your mother and I are gonna go take her car to Greendale today. One of the mechanics on the Southside said that he knows a guy in Greendale who can work on such a unique model. You ready?” He wondered, sending her a wink.

“Um...yeah. Let me get my purse.” She squinted at him before turning around to fake a smile at her daughter. “Please text me if you leave the house. And basically just text me all day so I know you’re okay.” Alice put her jacket over her forearm and grabbed her purse, heading for the open door.

“Yes, Mom.” Betty sighed.

“And you too, Chic.” She looked to her son. “Message me if you need anything. Keep the doors locked at all times and let me know when you get to work, okay?” Chic nodded from the table. “I love you.”

“We love you too, Mom.” Betty sent her a gentle smile.

“Love you.” Chic said and Alice stopped in her tracks. Her heart leapt and she turned to face her children again.

“That’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me.” Her eyes watered as she beamed with a smile.

Chic smirked. “I love you, Alice.” He said again.

Betty smiled beside him and she felt warm and fuzzy inside, looking at her mother’s reaction. “Be careful with that car, Mom.”

Alice’s eyes stung with her tears and she nodded, hating lying to them. She placed a hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief as she forced herself not to cry and she left with FP in her car.

“So where are we really going?” Alice wondered as she pulled out the driveway.

“When we get to Fremont Ave, pull over. I wanna drive.” FP insisted.

“What are-”

“Just do it, okay? It’s a surprise.” He grinned at her and she sighed with a roll of her eyes.

“You know I hate surprises.” She said, turning down the end of the street.

“I know you pretend to hate surprises, but you actually love them.” He placed his hand on his chin, rubbing the stubble on his face with a smirk.

“It depends on what it is.” They made it to Fremont and she stopped on the side of the road, watching him happily unbuckle his seat belt.

FP put his hand on the door handle to get out but he noticed she hadn’t moved. “Hey.” He said when she looked at him. “Just trust me, alright?” He chuckled when she raised one eyebrow at him. He reached over, unbuckling her seat belt for her and he got out. He walked to the other side of the car and opened the door for her. She continued to look at him suspiciously as she exited the vehicle and walked around to get in the passenger seat.

About twenty minutes had passed and they had made it into the village of Greendale. Alice frantically looked around the town, attempting to figure out where it was that he was taking her. Soon, he turned into a car dealership and she glared at him in the driver’s seat.

“We’re actually getting my brakes fixed?” She held back a ridiculous smile.

“Well...Not exactly. You’re gonna get an oil change.” FP pulled into the garage, setting a hand on her knee beside him.

Alice smiled, faking a dramatic gasp. “Oooo, how exciting!”

They both laughed and a mechanic approached the driver’s side window as FP rolled it down. “Hey. What can I do for you two today?” The man smiled.

“We’re looking for an oil change, bud.” Mr. Jones answered.

“Alright, just pull up there and we’ll get you situated.” He smiled at Alice in the other seat and stood, sending FP an impressed smirk.

“I know.” FP said before the man backed away from the car and he pulled it further into the garage.

“You know what?” Alice squinted at him when they both unbuckled their seat belts.

“Hm? Oh, nothing.” He chuckled.

“FP….what?” She asked with annoyed irritation.

FP laughed. “Nothing. He….He thinks you’re hot.”

“Oh my god!” She smacked him in the arm. “FP, do men really just have misogynistic conversations about women with just their eyes and body gestures all the time?” She pretended to be upset, though she just felt flattered and a little flushed.

“Oh, come on, Alice. Women do it too.” He briefly put his hand on the back of her car seat. “I know you and your girls were checking me out back in junior high before we even got together.”

“I love that you think you’re special.” Alice tilted her head with a grin.

“I KNOW I’m special, baby.” He put his hand on her cheek for a second before touching his thumb to her lower lip. He sent her a wink and turned to get out of the car.

Alice scoffed and got out with him. She walked around the car, following him inside the building to talk to the mechanics about prices and deals. When they finished, FP took her by the hand and led her out of the building. “FP.” She nervously whispered. “We really shouldn’t be holding hands out in the open.”

FP looked around the empty parking lot and the empty road and he smiled down at her beside him. “There’s no one around.” He whispered.

“I’m serious, FP. We need to be careful.” She stopped walking. “Remember….Miss Grundy was killed here. Which means the Black Hood could still be around.”

“Alright, Alice.” He turned his body to face her. “It’s time for the real reason we came here.”

“I knew you wouldn’t just drag me out here for an oil change.”

“Of course not. We’re at a dealership so if we WERE followed...they’ll come to find your car here and our story will check out. We’re gonna walk the rest of the way to your surprise.” FP placed his hands in his pockets with a grin.

“Where is it that we are-” Alice stopped. “Wait…” She looked around, remembering where they were and one side of her mouth curled into half a smile. “FP….” She said in an annoyed teenage voice. “No. We are not going there.”

“Yes, we are.” He grabbed her hand again, pulling her toward the street to cross it.

“I thought it closed down.” She wanted to stop, but her feet disobeyed her. “FP!”

“Come on.”

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry it took so long for me to update today. Some friends of mine came over and I didn’t wanna be rude and on my laptop the whole time. Also...a side note….I forgot to say in my Author’s Note in the last chapter that I made Alice’s middle name ‘Helen,’ because in some of the comic books that was stated as her first name and then it was also Millie before the Archie Comics’ writers finally decided on sticking with ‘Alice.’ Anyway….I hope you liked this chapter. The next one is gonna be filled with so many feels and cute fluff. I hope you stick around for it. Love you all! MWAH!**


	13. Your Thing

“FP!” Alice whispered, finally getting annoyed at his ignoring her on their walk through the woods on a back road. “We’re gonna get caught.”

“Oh, come on, Alice.” He looked over his shoulder at her, continuing to drag her along. “We’ve done this a million times. Remember that old abandoned factory we would sneak into? The Morningside Diner when it was closed at night? You were never scared back then.” He chuckled to himself, moving a branch out of the way and holding it up for Alice to step underneath.

“I was different back then.” She stopped walking, letting go of his hand and he turned around to face her.

“I don’t think that’s true.” He stepped super close to her, putting his hands around her waist and leaning over a bit to be at eye level with her. “I still see that little spark in you that’s been there since the day you convinced me to replace Mrs. Keil’s whiteboard markers with permanent ones in eighth grade. You just need to light it again.” FP let go of her waist and stepped back with his arms up as if presenting himself. “Let me be your match.”

Alice rolled her eyes, attempting to fight a smile that grew upon her face anyway. She sighed. “If anything, you’re more like my ticking time bomb, FP Jones.” She giggled, finally giving in and following him further through the woods.

“As long as it’s a good thing, I’m okay with that.” He said, letting her go on ahead of him as they came to the edge of the woods, approaching the back of an abandoned building.

They made their way across the parking lot, FP looking on ahead with more than a hint of nostalgia while Alice stared down at the cracked concrete where bumps and divots surrounded their every step. They walked carefully, knowing the place had to have been last repaved decades ago as they recognized many imperfections from their teen years.

“How are we supposed to get in, Mr. Cool?” Alice crossed her arms over her chest as they reached the back door.

“You do your thing.” FP stated, matter-of-factly.

“Are you serious?” She chuckled. “I haven’t done it in years. What makes you think I still can?”

“Come on, you used to tell me it was as easy as riding a bike….Maybe it’s just as memorable as riding a bike.” He winked at her.

“I don’t have any hair pins.” She tried to point out, hoping he’d give up on this plan.

“Use the underwire from your bra.” He answered so quickly, Alice began to believe he’d been thinking about this longer than she expected. “Come on.” He whispered, putting his hands on her hips. He gave her a small peck kiss and grabbed the hem of her shirt, slowly lifting it as he bent his knees to squat a bit, his eyes parallel to her stomach.

FP’s hands leisurely slithered up her slightly lifted shirt and found their way to her bra. He fiddled with it a little bit, his eyes looking up at her every now and then as she pretended not to be bothered by his actions although a sheet of comforting goosebumps covered her arms and legs. Her heart pounded like a nervous adolescent and she did her best to act as though she weren’t slightly aroused. Finally, his nimble fingers succeeded in removing the underwire from her brassiere and he pulled it out like it were no big deal. He straightened his posture, handing it to her and she did the typical Alice thing and rolled her eyes at him while she took it from him.

After a few attempts at picking the lock, Alice was finally successful and FP made it known that he ‘told her she could do it.’ With another long sigh, Alice followed him inside the old, closed down roller skating rink.

FP shut the door and they were engulfed in the darkness of the empty building. Alice stood still, a few feet away from the closed door and FP stood behind her. She jumped a little at his touch as he held onto the back of her hips in the void. The silence inside made it known that all they had to rely on was each other’s touch. “I’ll go find the lights.” FP felt compelled to whisper in the ominous place as Alice felt the opposite.

“No. Wait.” She said aloud, taking hold of his hands upon her hips from behind. Her fingers slid between his, intertwining them before she guided them to hold her stomach. She leaned back into his chest, letting her head fall to his shoulder in the dark. FP’s head tilted a bit, leaning against hers and they took in each other’s presence, absorbing the other’s energy. Even though she was already blind to everything around her, she closed her eyes, feeling every breath he took behind her and feeling his heart beat against her back. They swayed together for a moment as if they heard the same song in the silence. She felt butterflies in her stomach as a bit of nausea collided. “I’m pregnant.” She finally spoke it into existence, the suspicion she had had for a few days now.

“What?” FP chuckled, feeling a bit of denial to what his ears heard and as if she were just making a bad joke.

“I took three tests this morning.” She fiddled with one of his sleeves on her stomach.

FP stopped swaying with her and soon she did too. “Wait. You’re being serious?”

Alice expected to be upset with the test results that morning, but she wasn’t and a part of her missed pregnancy and babies in the first place. She turned around in his arms to face him in the pitch black building. She didn’t need to see him right away. She had his body memorized as did he. And she could picture his reaction, knowing him to be noble and more in love with this idea than Hal ever was. Her hands found their way to his cheeks above her and she now longed for the lights to be on. “I’m serious.”

FP couldn’t see her, but he heard the smile in her voice when she said it and his heart warmed up as he felt pride and excitement in the pit of his own stomach. “Alice.” He said with a wide grin, though she couldn’t see it, she also knew. “This is amazing! I mean...you’re not too….I mean, we’re not too….I mean-” He stopped, not wanting to say something offensive all of a sudden.

“Too old, you mean?” She asked, wrapping her fingers around his neck. She felt him nod and she giggled. “I thought so too at first, but then I realized….no one’s ever too old for anything.” She rubbed his neck with one hand. “Besides...I don’t think we’re that old. We haven’t even hit 40 yet.” She laughed and so did he. “So...you’re okay with this?”

“Am I okay with this?” FP kept his right hand on her lower back as his left hand moved to rest upon her stomach. “I can’t wait to meet the little guy….or girl.” He bent over, kissing her tummy in the dark as Alice let herself cry when he couldn’t see her.

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, guys. Are you as much of a sobbing mess as I am now? Lol Let me know in the reviews. MWAH!**


	14. Here

FP stood up again, hearing Alice sniffle in the dark as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs and kissed her. They each felt a swirl of emotions wrapping around them, tying them together in the abandoned skating rink. This was their chance to try again. Their moment to truly feel the happiness that overpowered their painful past. Their love had created another, yet again. This time they’d do it right. They’d do it together.

Mr. Jones took her by the hand, kissing the back of it before he kissed her on the mouth once more. “Wait here.” He whispered. “I’m gonna go find the lights.”

“Okay.” She whispered back. “Be careful.”

“I mean it…” He warned her. “...stay right there. I don’t want you tripping over anything.”

“I’m not moving, Jones.” She reassured him with adorable annoyance.

“Okay.” His voice moved farther and farther away from her.

Only a few seconds passed before Alice called out to him again. “Are you alright?” She wondered.

“I’m okay.” He answered, even further from her.

Suddenly, the sound of a bang resonated throughout the building, causing an echo and Alice’s heart to leap. “FP?” She spun around in the dark as if she’d be able to see him.

“I’m fine.” He called out immediately.

“You tripped, didn’t you?” She asked with her hands on her hips.

“Yupp.” He responded receiving a laugh from the woman. He laughed too with a pained groan. “That’s gonna bruise tomorrow.”

“You alright, baby?” She wondered, finding it funny that he was so worried about her tripping when he was the one they should’ve worried about.

“I’ll be fine.” FP giggled from a corner of the room and he finally found the lights. “Got it!” He called out, turning them on.

When Alice was finally able to see, she turned to see the open rink and the old skating floor that she actually kind of missed. The disco ball over the center of the room spun and she let out a relaxed sigh. She turned to find FP walking toward her with a hand on his bicep, rubbing away the pain from his fall. “Are you-”

“I’m perfect.” He interrupted her, putting his hands on her stomach once more. “You’re perfect. This is all perfect.”

“At least let me take a look at it.” She insisted, grabbing the sleeve to his Serpent jacket and pulling his arm closer. “Come on...Take it off.” She looked up into his eyes as he held back a joke. “FP.” She basically scolded him for having such a dirty mind. “Come on.” She demanded once more and he obeyed, removing his Serpent jacket to reveal the gray t-shirt he wore underneath. Alice examined his reddened bicep and put two of her fingers over it to feel its small bump. “You’ll live.” She playfully smacked him on the arm and he grimaced in pain.

“Hey!” He chuckled, finding it hard to be mad at her at the moment. “Do you wanna see if they left any of the rental skates here?”

“FP, I haven’t skated since junior year.”

“Come on. You were always a natural and besides…” He brought his face centimeters from hers, “...I’ll catch you.” He put his lips to hers, about to kiss her and her eyes closed, practically begging for his lips upon hers, but he quickly pulled away, teasing her.

Alice shook her head as she glared at him, walking away to jump over the employee counter. “You’re such a child.” She joked as he disappeared, ducking down behind the desk.

“Hey, look!” He shouted, standing up and placing a pair of skates on the counter. “Your size!”

“Oh no.” She said, walking over and setting her purse down. “Why would they leave these here?”

“Because they knew we were coming.” FP quipped as he looked for his own size.

“They knew we would be here today when they closed the place down five years ago?”

“Yupp.” He laughed, hopping over the counter again to be on her side and he took both pairs in his hands, walking over to sit on a bench and take his shoes off. “Come on.” He patted the seat beside him.

Alice closed her eyes before joining him and she reluctantly took off her gray Sablena Booties. “This can’t be sanitary.” She complained, even though she continued to place the first skate over her rose-pink sock.

When they finally finished tying their skates, FP stood, offering his hands for her to take them. “This used to be your favorite place.” He stated as she took his hands and he helped her up. They slowly rolled on the carpet, heading for the hard wood, polished floor. “Why did you stop coming here back then?”

“It’s not that this was my favorite place, FP.” She looked at him beside her, squeezing his hand tighter. “My favorite place was anywhere with you.” They made it to the floor and carefully stepped onto it. “When we ended things, nowhere was my favorite place.”

“Alice...I’m really sorry about back then. I thought you liked being a Serpent. It wasn’t until that day that I knew any different. Can you forgive me and all that crap I pulled?”

“I already did.” She admitted. “I didn’t WANT to. But I did.” FP stopped skating and Alice turned to look at him. “I’m good at PRETENDING I’m holding a grudge, aren’t I?” She tried to joke.

FP faked a sad smile and he shrugged. “Hold on. Wait here.” He turned, heading back to the carpeted floor.

“Where are you going?” She wondered, holding onto the wall beside her.

“Just a second.” He disappeared behind a large wall to plug his phone into the surround sound speakers. When he attempted to start his playlist, a loud static sounded throughout the building.

“What the hell was that?” Alice shouted, putting her free hand to one ear.

“Hold on.” He said again, plugging an ear as well. He used his knowledge of hot wiring cars to hot wire two of the speakers’ cords and eventually, the static was replaced with one of his favorite songs.

He reappeared from behind the wall and made his way over to Alice, placing his hands on her face for a light kiss. When they broke the kiss, they lovingly stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. “I’m shocked we haven’t fallen yet.” Alice joked, turning around to continue skating without him.

“Don’t jinx it.” FP warned, slowly rolling forward to follow her. “But see? I told you you’d be fine.” He watched her far ahead of him as she swayed to the music, stopping to do an adorable little turn while she stared up at the mirror ball on the ceiling. Joy found its way into every inch of his body and it finally hit him as hard as it should have. He was going to be a father again. She was carrying his new baby. And this time he knew about it.

He stopped skating again as he just watched her skate around for a bit before she looked back at him with a glorious smile. “What?” She asked him, starting to roll back toward FP. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

When Alice made her way over to him, he put his arms around her. “I must be dreaming.”

She rested her hands on his chest and chuckled. “Sometimes you’re too much, Lover Boy.”

“Sometimes I’m not enough.” He was lost in her icy blue eyes and his heart jumped everytime she blinked them at him. “You deserve the world, Alice Smith. And all I want is to give it to you.”

“FP, have you really no idea?” Alice’s voice suddenly sounded so small and FP melted as the words escaped her lips. “You ARE my world.”

“I can’t believe I ever let you go.” FP’s voice cracked and Alice shushed him, putting her finger to his lips.

“You’re gonna make the baby cry.” She whispered with a petite smirk.

“You mean you?” FP laughed. “The baby doesn’t even have eyes yet.”

“Shh!” She shushed him again, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. “It’s the baby.”

Her man giggled again before he stole her lips in a kiss. “We get to pick out baby names.” His tone was more than giddy, though he tried his best to hide it.

“Ah, ah.” Alice backed her head away with a finger in the air. “I get to choose the baby names.” She laughed. “Jughead and Jellybean? Come on, Forsythe.” She paused. “And that’s not even their real names. You named them after you. Another Forsythe and then you went with Forsythia? I can’t believe Gladys agreed to that.”

“Hey…” He let go of her, putting his hands on his hips. “It was cute at the time.”

“It would be cute for your grandchildren to have named their kids after you, but not your own children, Norma Bates.” Alice joked and they both laughed.

“Okay, okay. You’re right. You can pick the baby names, but can I at least say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to them?”

“Hmm….I’ll think about it.” She winked. “I’m kidding. Yes, you can.” She took hold of his hand and turned around, continuing to skate around the oval wooden floor. “Still waiting for one of us to fall.”

“Honestly...so am I.” They laughed.

“If I weren’t so nice, I’d push you.” Alice let out a small chortle.

“But you’re not nice.” He joked and he immediately regretted it as, soon after, he found himself lying on the floor, staring up at her as she looked down at him with her hands on her hips.

“You’re right. I’m not.” She smiled down at him on the ground after she’d shoved him, causing him to fall.

“Well...since I’m down here..why don’t you join me?”

“FP, don’t you dare.” She warned with authority.

“I’m not gonna do anything, I swear.” He waved his hands as if to gesture for her to lay on the floor with him. “Come cuddle with me.”

“Ugh!” She pretended to be annoyed and she slowly and carefully knelt down beside him and FP sat up, resting on his elbow. “You’re too sappy.” Alice admitted, putting a hand on his shoulder with a tilt of her head.

“Only when I’m with you.” As he stared at her, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“What?”

“I can’t wait till the divorce is final. I hate having to hide how much I love you.”

“Well, I know how much you love me. You’re gonna have to be okay with that much for now.” She grinned and leaned in for a gentle kiss.

They laid down on the ground, staring up at the disco ball, spinning and spinning like the love in their heads. FP played with Alice’s fingers in his before he turned to look at her once again, admiring every part of her. He watched her chest slowly rise and fall with every breath she took. Her golden hair beside him caught his attention as did her long eyelashes when they blinked. Every gorgeous feature of her face made his heart pound a bit faster and harder before he knew what he needed. “I hope it’s a girl.” Alice turned to look at him. “I want her middle name to be Alice, because she will have every amazing part of her mother and she’ll be able to take that everywhere with her.” His hand reached over to cup her face beside him. “I know I’m too sappy and I know I just sound very love sick...but I don’t care. You’re the only one to ever make me feel the way I do. And I don’t even know what that feeling is. It’s just….Here. I just feel Here when I’m with you. I’ve always felt just...around and as if I were just watching others be Here. But you make me feel Here.” He let go of Alice’s face and turned to look back at the ceiling with a laugh. “I probably don’t make any sense.”

“You don’t have to.” Alice continued to watch him. “I know what you mean.”

She leaned over, kissing him as her left hand rested on his chest. He sat up, letting his hand rest upon her stomach with anticipation for the next nine months.

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, guys. I’m not sure how I feel about this chapter. It ended up being completely different from what I had intended it to be, but hopefully it’s still okay(?). Just please let me know. Love you guys! MWAH!**


	15. Shattered

“So, when are you planning on getting an ultrasound? I’d like to come if that’s okay.” FP asked in the passenger seat of Alice’s newly oil-changed car.

“I, um….I wasn’t planning on going right away.” Alice responded as she turned down the street, heading back into Riverdale.

“Why not?” He asked, placing his hand on her thigh.

“Because this has to be kept a secret for as long as possible. Not only have we committed adultery, but now we’ve conceived a child in an unwed relationship. The Black Hood is going to-”

“You’re gonna get big. Eventually it’ll be obvious that you’re pregnant, Alice. What are you gonna tell everyone then?” He moved his hand to rest on the back of the driver’s seat.

Her voice slowed and she spoke hesitantly and quietly. “I was thinking…..I would tell people that it was Hal’s.” FP’s arm dropped from the back of her seat. And Alice tried her best to back track. “Just for right now! And then when things calm down, we’ll-”

“What if things never calm down, Alice? You’re just gonna go ahead and let everyone think that my kid is his? AGAIN?” She didn’t respond, causing a ridiculous chortle to escape FP’s throat. He turned to look out of the car window, placing his hand under his chin. “You’re something else, you know that, Alice?” He pressed his lips together not wanting to say what he was about to, but it poured out of his mouth anyway when he turned to look at her again. “You have no morals!”

“I-What?” She said in between his words. “Excuse me!”

“All you care about is what other people think of you!”

“That’s not what this is, FP!” Alice felt a spell of morning sickness approaching, at the worst time.

“You left me in the fear that people would judge you for being with the town drunk’s son. You convinced your parents to transfer you to the Northside so everyone could see how prim and proper you were becoming. Hell, you only married Hal to keep up with appearances.”

“I’m trying to protect us, FP!” She shouted. “All I care about is appearances? For real? Do you have any idea what happened to me while you were in prison?” She waited for him to respond while she turned down another street. He was silent. “The Black Hood threatened my daughter! He sent me several threatening letters.” She began to cry angry tears as she continued. “He called Betty every night, torturing my little girl and forcing her to end things with Jughead….with her best friend...With me!” She sniffled. “He sent her an old newspaper about my arrest back when things went down with the Serpents and forced poor Elizabeth to publish it in the school newspaper and plaster it all over town. Everyone on the Northside became well aware of my stint with the Southside after that and do you know what happened? Do you know what I did? Hal begged me not to show my face in public ever again because HE was so embarrassed with his ball and chain. HE was the one obsessed with appearances. I ignored him and I showed up to every town event after that without a care in the world ‘what people think.’ Don’t give me that, Forsythe. I left you because you were in a bad place. I left the Southside because I was looking at major colleges and I needed a real education. I stayed with Hal, because he was my only friend on the Northside.” She shook her head with a scoff as they turned down her street. “I don’t care what people think. I care about my family and I care about you and I care about what the Black Hood might do if he finds out about us! I’m trying to keep everyone I love safe! And that includes you. So you better watch your tone with me, FP Jones. And enough with this shaming me for becoming a Northsider crap!”

She made it into her driveway, putting the car in park as they sat there, immovable, in complete silence. Alice stared ahead at her closed garage door while FP stared down at the dashboard in front of him. He rubbed the facial hair on his chin, anxiously bouncing his right leg as he did so. Alice’s hands tightly gripped the steering wheel ahead of her and she forced herself to stop crying. He turned his head to look at her and he sighed, opening his mouth to speak. “Alice, I-”

“Get out.” She said, refusing to look at him.

“Alice.” He reached for her hand on the steering wheel, but she pulled it away.

“Just...go.” She felt more tears attempting to escape, but she willed them to stay put.

“You need to see a doctor for the baby, Alice.” He said calmly and quietly.

“Well, I’m not going to.” Her stubbornness persisted.

Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Second put a hand in his own hair, feeling his heart continue to pound aggressively. He closed his eyes for a moment before he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door. He put his right foot out for a brief moment before pulling it back into the vehicle. Leaning over, he gave her small peck kiss on the cheek, which she pretended not to acknowledge, and he got out of the car.

Alice waited for him to hop into his truck and leave before she finally got out herself and went into the house.

The next morning, Alice found herself going through the motions, attempting to make breakfast with pep, but all she felt inside was annoyance and nausea. She barely ate and she felt a small headache approaching when she climbed into her car to head to the Register.

She spent the entire car ride into town, contemplating her situation and wondering if she had seen any clues at the school as to whom the Black Hood could really be. She thought of the blood on the whiteboard and the dangling body. She tried her best to picture everything in that classroom exactly as it were, wondering if any placement of any item could mean anything. Who could it be? Who, in the town, could she not trust? Frankly, she hadn’t trusted many people to begin with, but after Jason’s murder and hearing that it was his own father….she decided not to trust anyone else much prior.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she turned down the street to the Register and a loud, obnoxious noise sounded throughout the town. It was the sound of an ear-piercing alarm and she recognized it as the Register’s alarm immediately. She hurried up to park her car and get out, running across the street to the building. She gasped upon the broken glass doors and windows as she approached. This time, the breaking of the door was not her doing and she looked around outside for any suspects. There was no one.

Picking up her cell phone, she dialed 9-1-1. The line was dead. “Shit!” She cursed, putting her cell phone back into her purse. “It’s okay, Alice. Just get in your car and drive to the police station.” She spoke aloud to herself to attempt to remain calm. When she turned to head back to her car, she heard a groan from inside.

“Alice?” The voice cried out with a hint of obvious pain in their tone.

Alice quickly turned to look back inside. “Hello?” She felt a bit queasy, unaware if it were her nerves or just the baby.

“In here.” The voice called out again.

Alice slowly stepped over the shattered glass all around her and she set her purse down on the first desk inside. “FP?” She recognized his voice and followed the sound of moving broken glass. Finally, she found him behind her desk, almost under it, laying on the floor with glass and fallen papers all around him. “What happened?” She knelt down beside him. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize for what happened yesterday and The Black Hood-” FP could barely whisper.

Alice’s eyes filled with tears as well as terror. “He was here? He did this?” Her voice cracked and she felt a panic attack fighting its way to get to her. “I knew this would happen.” She sobbed.

“Hal…” FP forced out. “He’s-”

Alice gasped. “Is he here? Where is he?” She looked around the Register for him before her eyes fell back to Forsythe.

“He stopped him before he could-” FP held onto his side, groaning once more in pain.

“Hal? Hal!?” Alice stood up, fearing for all of their lives. “We have to get you out of here. Hal?” She called again, but no answer. She whimpered as she tried to keep it together, but more panic overpowered her. “Where is he?” She let the tears fall, afraid for her ex husband.

“I don’t know.” FP struggled to move. “Alice…” He whispered with horror in his tone. “I think I might be paralyzed.”

“What?!” Alice knelt down beside him again.

“You’re gonna have to go find Hal without me and run.” His stillness caused Alice’s stomach to churn.

“No, I’m not leaving you.” She shook her head as more tears fell.

“You’re gonna have to. Listen….you need to take care of that baby. You need to find Hal and you need to...LOOK OUT!” His eyes widened, looking over Alice’s shoulder.

Alice quickly stood, turning to see the Black Hood directly behind her. She gasped and he forced her back into the wall behind her. “Shameful!” The deep, deep voice shouted.

A pain that Alice had never felt before came over her and she let out a chilling shriek, pinned against the wall. Her abdomen stung more than a thousand bee stings and her head slowly dropped. Her mouth lay open as she looked down to see the knife that sat deep within her stomach.

“NO!” FP shouted from the floor beneath them.

The Black Hood’s grip on the knife was so tight that his knuckles were white and he pushed the blade in even more, causing a shrill gasp to escape Alice’s lips. Tears streamed down her face as she felt the blood drip out of her body and she felt her breath slipping away from her as she cried. “My baby.” She forced out in a whisper and she could taste the blood in her own mouth.

It wasn’t long before she felt the blood that trickled down her legs and she knew the baby was gone. A few more sobs escaped her broken body as her vision blurred. She could hear the muffled sounds of police sirens mixed with the Register’s alarm as the Black Hood moved his face closer to hers, revelling in the life he was taking.

“Police! Drop your weapon!” Alice could barely hear through a ringing in her ear. The Black Hood dropped her limp body to the floor and he fled out the back door. “Hal? Hal Cooper?!” Sheriff Keller ran into the Register looking around for victims with his gun in hand. “Alice Cooper?” Tom called out, hoping to hear someone soon. “Alice!” He shouted when he found her beside FP behind her desk. “FP!” Keller knelt down beside them as some of his deputies searched the Register for Hal and the others ran out the back to follow the Black Hood. “It’s okay.” His voice grew more and more muffled. “You’re going to the hospital, Alice. Take care of your baby. It’s gonna be okay.”

Alice opened her eyes, immediately sitting up in her bed the night of her fight with FP. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she gasped for air. She looked around her bedroom, finally coming to and realizing that it was all just a nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare. She panicked suddenly, tearing the blankets off of her and checking to see if the baby was okay. She quickly searched for any signs of blood or miscarriage and she sighed when there was none. Her hand fell to her stomach and she did her best to control her breathing. “Mom?” Betty slowly opened her mother’s bedroom door. She held her hands in tight fists as she watched her mother cry with panic. “Are you okay? I heard you down the hall.” Elizabeth continued to stand in the doorway like a terrified toddler and seeing her mother in such a state imprinted itself into her mind. “What’s going on?” She watched Alice place a hand over her mouth before she invited herself into her mom’s bedroom and onto her bed to hold her.

“Betty?” Alice sniffled, rocking in her youngest’s arms. “There’s something you need to know.” She pulled out of Betty’s hug to look at her and she opened her mouth to say something when Chic walked in.

“Mom?” He said for the first time, causing Alice’s heart to leap. “What’s going on?”

Alice Smith sniffled once more, finally getting a grip and she wiped away her tears, waving Chic in to sit on her bed with them. She grabbed one of each of their hands. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Wow. You probably really hate me for that, huh? Lol Leave some comments and reviews, please! Love you guys! MWAH!**


	16. Absurdity

“Wait...Mommy.” Sixteen year old Elizabeth Cooper began on the right side of her mother’s bed. “You’re pregnant?”

Alice sniffled, still holding tight to both Betty and Chic’s hands. “I am.” She nodded.

“How did this happen? You just got divorced.” Betty looked at her mom with question and she received a look of awkward guilt from the owner of the house. “Oh.” The younger blonde put two and two together...realizing her father was not the new baby’s father. “So...who?” She wondered aloud. “Oh...wait...Do I wanna know?”

“Actually…..” Alice began. “You probably don’t….but you’ll learn eventually, so I might as well…”

“Is it…?” Chic interrupted, holding his mother’s hand in two of his own.

She sighed. “It is.” She couldn’t hold back the large grin that grew upon her face, no matter how difficult this was or how complicated.

“It is?” Betty’s eyes shifted back and forth between her mother and brother, as if trying to read their minds. “Who?” She finally decided that she needed to know.

“Betty.” Alice turned her body a bit more to face her youngest. “Don’t freak out, okay?” She sighed. “There are a few things that you don’t know about me and about my past and unfortunately about my present….Now...the secrets I’ve kept from you in the past were to appease your father’s wishes and the secrets I’ve kept from you recently were just to protect certain people that I care about.”

“Okay?” Betty’s eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she listened intently.

“You know that things have been a little shaky since the Black Hood stepped foot in this town and anyone who does any type of wrongdoing could be in danger, so….I have kept my current relationship….with the father of this baby….a secret in case the Black Hood decides to kill any of us for having a child while unwed or for…” She paused to let out a long, dramatic sigh. “...adultery.”

“Adultery?!” Betty asked with absurdity. “You cheated on Dad? And he cheated on you with Mrs. Blossom? What has Riverdale come to? Why are all of the parents cheating?!”

“No, no, no. Elizabeth, honey. I did not cheat on your father. Yes...he cheated on me. Yes...there are other married people in this town, I will not name any names, who have committed adultery, but Betty Cooper, I can assure you I am not one of them.” She tilted her head to the side. “Well….not intentionally.” When Betty raised a concerned eyebrow, Alice tried her best to cut to the chase. “It happened after the divorce. I was home alone and he came over looking for Jughead and I invited him in for dinner and old feelings from high school came crawling back and I just-”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” Betty interrupted again. “‘Looking for Jughead?’ You mean….Mr. Jones?! You and FP?!” She looked to Chic on the other side of their mother and she squinted when he seemed untouched by any of this news. “What do you mean old feelings came crawling back, Mom?”

“I mean, Elizabeth, that in high school, FP and I were in love….We still are. We always were. But things back then were a bit shaky for us and well...the ripple effect happened and we both ended up with different people...At the time we thought we were doing the right thing, but it only resulted in two very unhappy marriages, the habits of an alcoholic, and the lifestyle of a very lonely, very hard-headed bitch. The only good thing that came from that decision was you kids. But FP and I realized that even after all these years, we never stopped loving one another. So...that night after the divorce, he and I….well, let’s just say we started things up again. That was not my intention, I promise you, but I told him about Chic and-”

“Wait...What about Chic?” Again, Elizabeth looked to her big brother, hoping to see some sort of a reaction, but she didn’t detect a single hint of one. 

Alice let go of Chic’s hand in order to hold Betty’s in both of hers. “Betty...The reason your father and I argued about Chic back then....was because Chic isn’t his.” Betty ripped her hand out of her mother’s grip. “It’s okay, Betty. FP and I discussed it. You and Jughead can still be together. Neither of you share ANY of the same parents, so it’s okay. Sure, it may be a little weird at first...especially for poor Chic.” She giggled, hoping to lighten the situation. “I mean….two of his half siblings are-”

“Mom, Mom!” The sixteen year old, stood from the bed in a state of both shock and panic. Anger and frustration seemed to accompany them. “This isn’t funny, okay? This is….this is weird! I’m gonna have a little brother or sister who is almost twenty years younger than me? And they’re gonna be Chic’s full sibling apparently? And Jughead and I will have, not one, but TWO of the same half siblings? How is this funny? How is this okay? How is ANY of it okay?” She slightly paced back and forth. “This should count as a form of child abuse or something.”

“Okay. Don’t be so dramatic, Elizabeth.” 

“So the adultery, that’s because of Jughead’s mom?” The smart teen figured out. “All this time I was afraid the Black Hood would target you for your incessant nagging and gossipping or for all of the snooping you do when you’re writing an article or when you’re just...well, just being you….But no! I should’ve been worrying about you getting pregnant by my boyfriend’s married dad.” With that, she turned to run out of the master bedroom, heading to her own.

“Wait, Betty.” Alice quickly stood to chase after her. Just when she thought she caught up on time, Betty’s bedroom door was slammed within an inch of her nose. “Elizabeth?” She attempted to turn the door knob, but failed. “Elizabeth, unlock this door, please? We need to talk about this. Just...Please open up?” She turned to look at Chic standing down the other end of the hallway. He sent her a supportive smile before she knocked once more. “Betty….I’m really sorry. I know this was probably really hard to hear, but it’s not the end of the world. The complete opposite, in fact. This is more like a um….a reboot of our family. I know it’s not traditional….but almost no one has traditional families anymore.” She waited a long while for a response, but never received one. She spoke again, her voice even more quiet and broken than before. “Well...I know you’re upset, but I’m gonna go to the hospital tomorrow and make an appointment for my first ultrasound. I’d love it if you would come with me.” She sadly put a hand on the door. With a sigh, she pat her hand on it and turned to walk back to her own bedroom.


	17. Must Be The Age

**A/N: Hey, guys! I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated. Writer’s Block hit me and then I lost all motivation to write for a bit, but I’m back and I am determined to not go on another hiatus until this story is complete. Lord knows Riverdale is giving us WAY too many hiatuses, I’m not gonna be like them. Hahaha! Anyway, here’s Chapter 17...FINALLY (Lol)! Enjoy! MWAH!**

 

* * *

 

Alice lay in her bed that night, staring up at the ceiling and wanting nothing more than to tell FP that he was right. That dream...that nightmare. It was only telling her the truth that she needed to hear. The truth that FP had tried to tell her. The truth that she needed to see a doctor about the baby as soon as possible. She was no longer a young woman in her twenties and she was approaching the dangerous age for women to have babies. As long as she stayed stubborn and away from a medical professional...her baby was in danger. And if there’s one thing Alice hated more than the Blossoms...it was her children in danger.

Turning to look at her bedside table, she gazed at her cell phone on its charger. With a sigh, she reached over and dialed FP’s number to tell him about her changed mind.

The next day, Alice failed to eat most of her breakfast as morning sickness hit her harder than she remembered it doing when she were pregnant with her first three. Must be the age. She had different cravings than when she was pregnant for Chic, Betty, or Polly. And she certainly noticed how much more her head ached when she stood from the dining room table too fast. Must be the age.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed, willing the headache to leave her be as she brought her plate over to the sink.

“Mom?” A voice from one of her children came from the bottom of the staircase.

“Oh. Good morning, honey.” Alice smiled as wide as she could at her son. “I called the doctor and set up my appointment for this morning. Would you like to join me?” She awaited his answer as he made his way over to the refrigerator to take out the pitcher of orange juice. “I don’t really wanna go alone.”

Chic took a sip of the juice right from the pitcher and Alice’s eyes widened as she watched him do so. “He’s not going?” He asked about his father when he finally swallowed his big gulp.

“Uh...no. I told him it’d be best if I did this one alone. Just because of the Black Hood and...everything.” She responded with hesitation. “Chic?” The pounding in her head caused her to briefly wince in pain. “Do you always...drink the juice directly from the pitcher?”

He wiped his mouth. “Oh. It’s an old habit. I didn’t even realize I did it. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine. Just...next time pour a glass, sweetie.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He answered, setting the pitcher back in the fridge.

Alice suddenly felt deja vu. It took her a second to figure out why as she watched her son’s back turn when he faced the ice box. But in a snap, she remembered. He HAD done that before. Several times. She’d watched him drink from the pitcher in the past and she never said a word. She just...accepted it or let it happen. Like she was under some type of spell. And now she had finally broken the spell in some way. No longer in a trance around him. Was that what FP was talking about when he mentioned her voice getting higher around Chic or her treating him like a baby?

“What?” Chic asked with a grin when he turned around, seeing his mother staring at him.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just...I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Are you gonna come with me to my ultrasound?”

Chic grabbed a bowl from a cupboard and poured himself a bowl of cereal. “Of course, Mom.” He smiled at her from the table. “I’d never let you go alone.”

“Neither would I.”

Both Chic and Alice turned to see Betty coming down the stairs. “Oh.” Alice’s voice trembled for a moment. “Good morning, Betty.”

“I would like to come with...if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course it is, honey.” Alice walked over to Elizabeth, giving her a small hug.

“I thought you were mad about the baby.” Chic spoke up from the table with a hint of annoyance in his tone, taking another bite of his breakfast.

Betty pulled out of her mother’s embrace with a roll of her eyes. “I wasn’t mad about the baby, Chic. I wasn’t mad at all. I was just….shocked and...overwhelmed, I guess? I don’t know. It’s not everyday that you find out your boyfriend’s half brother is also your half brother and your parents are dating and not only dating, but having ANOTHER half-sibling-baby. I just needed time to process it. I still feel a little weird, but...there’s nothing I can change in this situation, so I’m gonna have to deal with it and live.” She took a seat at the table across from him as he continued to glare at her, something Alice noticed almost immediately. “Besides…” Betty continued. “No matter who your father is...you’re still my brother, just like that baby will still be my little sister or brother. And I can love you both just the same. Can’t I?”

“Maybe.” Chic stared her down and she reciprocated, causing Alice to feel uneasy and as if that spell she was under had been making her miss the bigger picture in the Cooper-Smith house.

“Is everything okay, you two?” Their mother wondered, standing near the kitchen counter with a suspicious hand on her hip.

“Yes, Mom. We’re fine.” Betty stood from the table and got a bowl of cereal herself in the silence as Alice watched a few glances between her children.

She wanted to bring it up some more, but her nausea and headache prevented her from putting forth the effort. She made a mental note of it.

When they arrived at the hospital, they were greeted by a beaming familiar face inside the double doors of the pre-maternity ward. “FP, what are you doing here?” Alice frantically asked him in a whisper, looking around at innocent bystanders.

“I had Birdie pick me up in her Buick and I hid in the backseat, so my truck’s not here. Don’t worry. The Black Hood won’t know I even left the house today.” He whispered back as they hid behind a door in the hallway while Chic and Betty went to a vending machine for some drinks.

“What if Birdie’s the Black Hood?” Alice pointed out with her arms across her chest, feeling the pain in her head metastasize.

“Alice, don’t be ridiculous. The Black Hood is a 40 year old, Caucasian male with green eyes. Birdie is a 60 year old, Native American woman, with brown eyes.” He chuckled. “I think we’re safe.”

“Yeah, well...What do you know?” She asked, realizing how paranoid she was beginning to sound. “Maybe there’s more than one. Or maybe...the mastermind behind all of this isn’t the one doing the killings. Maybe the Black Hood who’s been seen by Archie or those two drug addicted nymphomaniac teens was just someone working for the Black Hood. Maybe it’s not a 40 year old. Maybe it’s someone even younger. I mean...why would an adult...even a crazy one...target kids too? Huh? If it was someone younger, it would make more sense. It could be one of Betty’s classmates. It could even be-” She stopped when she saw them.

“Mom?” Betty said, approaching the door they stood behind with Chic beside her. “What are you doing back here?”

“We-”

“We?” Betty squinted at her mother.

Alice slowly moved aside, letting FP show himself and she kept a wary eye on Chic who stared at FP with odd ones. She tried her hardest to read them, though she couldn’t. She used to think she knew him. His motives. She thought the world of him. He was her long lost baby boy. Her pride and joy. The result of her love for FP Jones. But now...she couldn’t tell anymore. She couldn’t read him. Was she truly under his spell before?

“Hello, Mr. Jones.” Betty stood there, awkwardly looking at her boyfriend’s father.

“Betty...Didn’t know you would be here.” He responded, looking back and forth between her and his son.

“Yeah.” The sixteen year old nodded. “Mom told me everything.”

“She did, did she?” FP’s smile faded a bit as he waited for the snarky teen to spit fire at him like her mother would have at sixteen.

“Mhm.” Elizabeth left it at that with another nod and she looked up at her brother beside her. She sent him another eye roll and Alice’s heart jumped.

What was her sudden hate for this boy? Was Betty never under his spell like she was? Had she been missing it all along? No. No. She’s just being paranoid. Right? Brothers and sisters quarrel or snip at each other all the time, right? At their age...it was normal. Right?

“Is this the first time you two have seen each other?” Betty wondered.

Chic quickly responded. “No.”

“No.” FP spoke at the same time. He couldn’t help but smile at the young man across from him. “We met the night of the divorce.”

“Ah….apparently everything happened that night and I just missed it all ‘cause I was having ice cream with my dad.” The bitterness in Betty’s voice shown through as if she weren’t even trying to hide it anymore.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Chic said beside her. “Calm down, Nancy Drew...Like Mom said last night...it’s not the end of the world.”

“Wh-what did you just call her?” Alice asked, feeling the ache in her head becoming unbearable as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Why did her head hurt so much? It must be the pregnancy. It must be her age. Nancy Drew? That was Betty’s favorite childhood detective. Something only those close to her knew. Something that (apparently) the Black Hood knew. How would Chic know that?

“Nancy Drew.” Chic smiled with a hand in his pocket. “You know? The fictional girl spy that solved crimes in her small town?”

Alice’s head pounded once more, defeating her as her vision blurred and within a split second, she fainted, just barely landing in FP’s arms beside her.


	18. Little Monster

A muffled, high-pitched sonance rang out as her vision returned to her and she slowly blinked her blue eyes open. Alice looked up at the plain white ceiling as her hearing soon cleared and the sound of the hospital machines around her added to the pain in her head. She deeply inhaled when she recalled where she was and why she was out in the first place. The sound of her inhale caught FP’s attention in the chair beside her hospital bed and he sat up straight. 

“Alice? Are you okay?” He wondered, obviously knowing the answer. “How’re you feeling?” He reworded. 

“I have a migraine strong enough to make the pope drop the ‘F’ bomb.” She closed her eyes, putting a hand to her head, praying it would all just go away.

“Alright. We can let the doctor know when he comes back. Any idea why you may have passed out?” 

“Um…” That’s right. She fainted. The reason? Oh boy! The reason. How could she tell him? How could she tell anyone? Would she be a terrible person for thinking something so heinous about her own son? Worse! Would she be a terrible person for letting him into her house if her suspicion were true? “I think it might just be this headache.” She lied, not wanting to tell Chic’s father that she suspected his firstborn son of being the Real Black Hood.

FP reached over, taking her by the hand and he brought it to his lips, kissing it for a long time with a sigh. He let out a soft hum before letting his hand fall to the bed in front of him, still holding hers. “Good thing I was there to catch you.” He smiled.

Alice turned to look into his brown eyes finally and she let herself smile through the splitting pain in her head. “Okay, Mr. Prince Charming. Down, boy.” She squeezed his hand in her own.

“So...I’m seeing Betty’s taking the news well.” FP said with sarcasm and a chuckle.

Alice’s eyes widened as she searched the empty room. “Where are Chic and Betty?” She asked with a hint of panic in her tone.

“They went to go pick up Jughead. Don’t worry. I gave them the ‘drive safely’ talk.” He giggled.

The journalist let out an audible sigh. “I wish you hadn’t let them go alone.” She rested her head on the pillow behind her as she looked up at the ceiling again, feeling another pounding in her head.

“What? Why?” FP’s grin faded. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Chic seems like a responsible kid.”

“FP. You don’t understand.” She almost whispered. “He’s-”

“Hello, Mrs. Cooper.” The doctor said as he entered the room at the most inconvenient time, a commonality doctors and waiters shared. “Oh!” He mentally hit himself in the forehead. “I’m sorry. Miss Smith.” He corrected with a chuckle. “That’s gonna take some getting used to. How do you feel?”

“Like someone hit me upside the head with a lamp.” The moment she said it, she realized that maybe the night of the murder was the night Chic lured her in deeper to his spell. Not only had he used that lamp against the random mystery drug dealer...but, metaphorically, he had hit HER with it too.

“That must be because you haven’t been eating much the past few days.” He said when he stopped beside her bed, reading the notes on his clipboard. “This shows that your blood sugar is unusually low for someone your age. Which would only be caused by a lack of nutrition. Am I right?” He watched his patient roll her eyes at him and he smirked. “I thought so….You need to eat, Alice. Especially now that you’ve got a little one coming.” 

“I guess I’ve just gone so long only worrying about my kids and husband eating first, that I’m not used to having to eat much.” She let out a light giggle. “I haven’t been pregnant in almost 17 years. I’m out of practice.” She joked, trying her best to ignore her thoughts about Chic and wondering if Betty were safe alone with him.

“Well...it’s a good thing Mr. Jones was there to catch you otherwise we’d probably be having a lot more trouble here than we really are.” The doctor sent FP a small grateful grin before returning his focus to Alice. “I’m assuming he’s the father?”

“Why would you-”

“Yes, I am.” FP accidentally blurted out, immediately receiving a glare from the woman.

“Excellent.” The doctor, clearly unaware of the deep drama in this town, continued to read over his paperwork on Alice. He grew up two towns over from Greendale and lived about half an hour out of Riverdale, so he didn’t know much about the South side-North side drama, nor did he have a clue about the personal scandals going on around him. What he did know was that his patient of ten years was divorced and pregnant and there was an apparent serial killer on the loose. Again. Although he swore the sheriff had killed the murderer months prior to today, he went on about his business...only worrying about the important thing...his own job. “It says here that you’re only a few weeks along, so you got a ways to go before you get to meet the little gal or pal. But...from what I see, you’re quite healthy, Alice. You just need to make sure you’re eating regularly and start taking those prenatal vitamins now. About your migraine...I’d try some tea first and if that doesn’t help...meditation and some light exercise surprisingly work wonders. Make sure you’re drinking water and I know you’re stubborn...so I’ll say it one more time. No skipping meals!” He looked to the other man in the room. “FP, you make sure she’s eating.”

“Yes, sir!” The Serpent leader said with gusto and a wide grin. He had permission to boss her around. This would be fun. Not that it’ll be easy to get her to listen...but he still knew it would be fun. 

“Julie will be in in a moment for your ultrasound. When she’s done, I told her to get you a snack before you leave to help with that headache. Take it easy, Alice.” The doctor smiled down at her before setting a comforting hand on her shoulder and he left.

The moment they were alone again, Alice snapped her head to glare at Forsythe. Without even a word spoken, FP knew what she was thinking. “I know. I know. I’m sorry. It just slipped out.” He looked down at her stomach with an ecstatic smile. “Can you blame me?” He stood from his chair, leaning over her torso, looking down at it. “There’s a little us in there.” He leaned over, kissing her belly before turning his head to look up at her. “And this time...we get to raise it. Together.” He moved his face closer to hers, leaning his hands on the bed beside her. “Our little badass prince or princess.” FP gave her forehead a small peck kiss. “Come on….Smile for me?” 

Almost like a stubborn toddler, Alice pouted with a playful, “No,” as FP put his lips centimeters from hers. He refused to kiss her until she smiled. 

“Come on…” He egged on again with a grin of his own. “It’s not like you and I created a little monster, huh? Come on….smile.” He sang until she did. “There she is.” He beamed, finally kissing her.

When they halted the embrace, FP sat back in his chair as they were joined by Jughead, Betty, and Chic, walking in with To-Go Milkshakes from Pop’s Diner. Alice’s smile faded when her eyes befell upon Chic. She hated herself for what she thought, but her mind disobeyed and decided to go there. Maybe she and FP didn’t create a little monster...but maybe a big one.


	19. Thorns And Knives

Alice spent the next few days keeping a close eye on Chic. She watched his every move and listened intently to his words, trying her hardest to catch another hint that he might be the one in town that she feared most. Was he the mastermind behind the attacks? If so...who was the man behind the mask? Or was it just Chic? And the trauma of Fred being shot had tricked Archie’s mind into seeing what he thought was a man in his forties? Chic was capable of murder. She had seen it. She had coddled him for it. Was Betty onto him too? Is that why she seemed so hostile toward him lately?

Alice wanted nothing more than to bring it up everytime they were alone...but they were never alone for long. Chic was always there. Listening. It began to eat away at Alice. So much so that she tried her best to avoid FP, knowing that he would know right away that something was wrong.

She sat behind her desk at The Register, nibbling at some Saltine crackers to get rid of her nausea. Though it always seemed like the crackers heightened it, she ate them anyway as they were her favorite snack even when she wasn’t pregnant.

“Hey, Alice.” Hal said, coming out of the office bathroom. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Rolling her eyes, she sighed, pushing her chair back and standing up to turn around and face him. “What is it, Hal?” She looked down at something he held in his hand and instant panic took over her.

“What the hell is this?” Her ex husband asked, holding up the pregnancy test. “I found this in the trash.”

Alice wanted nothing more than to put her face in both of her hands and scream at herself for forgetting to take the bathroom trash out after she took the test. Instead, she maintained her strong-willed composure and pressed her lips together, almost as if she were refusing to speak. She grabbed it from his hand and threw it in the waste bin beside her desk. “That’s nothing.” She lied.

“It’s positive.” Hal squinted at her. “Are you pregnant?” Alice cleared her throat and refused to respond as she sat back down in her chair and turned around to continue typing, ignoring him behind her. “You can’t be. At your age, you-”

“Oh, God. Hal…” She slouched in her chair, hating that she had to explain this to him, though she wasn’t surprised. “It doesn’t matter how old I am. If I still get my period, then I can still get pregnant. And I do.” She bit her lower lip with annoyance. “But how would you know that? You never paid any attention to me.”

It was silent for a moment until Hal looked down with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I just….who’s the father?” He awaited her answer, but when she didn’t, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Please tell me it’s not him.”

“So what if it were?” She continued to type, though she suspected her writing was not the best whilst this distracted. “Please tell ME you weren’t really banging Penelope Blossom.” She cracked a small smirk, proud of herself for that one. “And while we were married? Seriously, Hal? I don’t even wanna hear your criticisms about MY love life, when yours is messier than that ginger concubine’s family tree.” She giggled. “Oh right….it’s your family tree too, isn’t it?”

Hal scoffed, slowly walking around her desk to stand in front of her, looking down at her while she worked. “You know...you’ve been a thorn in my side since our wedding night.”

“Oh, me? I have?” She looked up at him with blazing eyes as she gave up on trying to work. With a loud puff of air escaping her nose, she reached up to take her glasses off before she slowly stood from her seat to be at eye level with him. “Let’s recall that night, shall we?” She placed a hand on her hip before setting her glasses on the desk with her other one. “Because I think you’ve forgotten exactly what happened or your pathetic excusable brain has altered it in your own reality so you can tell yourself that you were the victim that night.”

“Oh, trust me. I remember it very well.” Hal sneered.

“Mhm. Okay. Then tell me.” She demanded. “Tell me your version of our wedding night and enlighten me.”

“I remember that it was supposed to be the happiest night of our life and you spent it refusing to speak to me or even touch me. When I confronted you about it, you did what you always do...you snapped at me and I ended up with a black eye and sore ribs on our honeymoon.”

Alice’s jaw dropped as her eyes filled with tears and she couldn’t help but laugh. When she finally stopped chuckling, she shook her head and let the tears fall down her cheeks. “You’re missing the bigger picture, Hal.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“The reason I snapped in the first place.” She straightened her posture, readying herself for bringing up old wounds. “Do you remember?” She asked him, knowing that he must and he was just making her seem like the bad guy here. “We got to our room in the hotel after the reception and I told you that I wasn’t in the mood for sex. You asked me why and I told you that I was still depressed about Chic. You got all defensive and brought up the fact that _‘it was our wedding day...I should be happy.’_ You then proceeded to remind me that getting pregnant in high school was the dumbest thing I could have done and that choosing you over FP was the smartest thing I could’ve done. Then what happened?”

“Alice.”

“No, no.” She wiped away a tear. “Then what happened?” She repeated. “You proceeded to unzip my dress and throw me on the bed. So...I responded in the only way I knew how when being attacked.”

“I wasn’t attacking you.” He tried to justify.

“Yes...Yes, you were and you did! So...I defended myself.” Alice sniffled, looking away from him. “I’VE been a thorn in YOUR side since that night???” A small chuckle of ridicule escaped her lips. “If that’s the case, Hal, then you’ve been a knife in my back since high school.” They both looked away from each other, sighing. “And it didn’t stop there.” Alice shook her head. “Mm Nm, nope. And when Betty was gracious enough to find Chic for me, you acted like he was the Devil’s Spawn.” With a deep breath, she wiped away more tears before she finally admitted to him what she knew she couldn’t tell anyone else. “And you actually may have been right.” She whispered as she angrily closed her eyes the moment she said it.

“What?” He looked up at her with a hint of shock. Was she actually telling HIM that he was right?

“I have a theory about Chic and I haven’t told anyone this.” She said with both hands on her hips. “But you have to promise this is just between you and me….just until we learn more.”

Mr. Cooper slowly nodded, unsure when the last time was that they had a secret from the outside world together. “Okay.”

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, readers! We’re getting closer to the end of this story. There may be a few more chapters after this one, but soon it’ll be over. I hope you’ve been enjoying it so far and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it. Make sure you leave some comments and reviews. I love you all and thanks for putting up with me. Haha MWAH!**


	20. Lonely Corner

When Alice returned home from work that evening, she couldn’t help but oddly feel a weight that had been lifted from her shoulders. Talking to Hal about her suspicions about Chic helped her feel a bit more at ease. She no longer felt that she were paranoid nor that she was a bad mother. Hal had explained to her that it was natural for her to feel protective of Betty and that being concerned was not a paranoid thing, but a normal thing. Especially with a serial killer on the loose while you’ve been living with, basically, a stranger in your house.

It’d been a long time since Alice found comfort in sharing things with Hal, but this was one thing she couldn’t tell anyone else. If she tried to talk to FP about it, he’d probably ridicule her for thinking something so horrible of their son and it might cause a big fight. She didn’t have the stamina to fight with him nor did she want to put any stress on the baby. If she brought it up to Betty...she’d probably do the “Betty-Cooper-Thing” about it and go all Inspector Clouseau on the situation. Alice didn’t want her to keep putting herself in danger with investigations like this. And if she brought it up to anyone else, well….they’d probably just go straight to the police and everything would be ruined. Not only for Chic, but for Betty and Alice as well...seeing that they had covered up a murder together that he had committed.

It was too much. It was all too much to keep inside. So telling Hal seemed to be the best option, considering he didn’t think so highly of Chic anyway, so it wouldn’t really ruin his views on the boy. Not to mention...Hal’s stance in The Register had truly had a positive impact on their whole career and with his skill in investigating things...it’d be nice to have another set of eyes to help Alice on her lookout for Chic’s odd potential “Black-Hood-Like” behavior.

With a sigh of relief, Alice weakly smiled at her house from the driver’s seat of her car before she finally climbed out. She made her way up to the porch of her house and put the key in the door, unlocking it and heading inside. She was relieved to know that Chic and Betty had actually obeyed her wishes and kept the doors locked even if they WERE home. Alice stepped inside and shut the door, locking its dead bolts in place before she set the keys on the little table to the left of the front door. “Chic? Betty?” She called out with a smile. “I’m home!” She waited for a response as she set her purse down beside her keys. “What does everyone want for dinner?” She asked, happily heading for the kitchen. “I was thinking that we cou-” She stopped walking immediately. “Hello?” A nervous shake was hidden in the back of her throat as she slowly took another step forward, feeling a bitter darkness in the air as she moved closer and closer to the kitchen.

As she stepped passed the stairs, her left hand reached up to hold the wall as if it were a crutch. Her right hand fell to hold her stomach as she felt the butterflies flutter around her growing baby. Only one more step to go before she made it to where she heard the sound of a harsh breath. The moment she turned the corner to face the refrigerator, right there, below her feet, she saw her. Her youngest daughter, out cold on the kitchen floor. Alice fell to her knees at once. “Betty!?” She lightly pat her on the face in an attempt to wake her. “Betty!” She shouted, watching her daughter’s chest rise and fall.

Relieved that Betty was still breathing, Alice still let the anger and confusion overrule her. “What happened?” She hissed, looking over to Chic who was heavily breathing himself. He stood on the other side of the dining room table, his body vibrating with what Alice couldn’t differentiate from as fear or rage. “What happened?!” She shouted, rather unexpectedly, as she stood. Her eyes filled with tears as she took a few steps into the dining area to confront him up close. His eyebrows furrowed, his head fell. He squinted his eyes, staring at the floor, with exasperation. A hand reached up to touch his hair before he let it fall to his side once more, clenching both his hands into tight fists. His feet grew anxious and he shifted his weight upon both of them, quickly rocking from side to side. His arms stiffened and soon, he began to pace back and forth in his little area behind the head of the table. “Chic!” Alice yelled at him, stepping a bit closer, but being wary to not get too close. “What did you do?” She asked slowly and loudly. “I’m not buying into that childish act of terror anymore, Charles. Tell me what happened or I’m afraid I can’t let you stay here any-”

“It wasn’t me!” He finally shouted through gritted teeth. He stopped pacing for a moment to look at her, but he stomped his right foot, unable to keep still. “It wasn’t me.” He said, a bit more calmly with a hint of sadness in his tone. Alice rolled her eyes. “It was HIM!” He said in a whisper. “The Black Hood.” A single tear rolled down his face and he quickly wiped it away.

“The...The Black Hood was here?” Alice asked in a panic. “Why didn’t you call me? Or better yet, why didn’t you call the police?”

Her son shook his head like a toddler as he stared at the floor beneath him. “No time.”

“No time? How long ago did this happen?” Alice pried.

“He JUST left.” Chic responded as he bit one of his nails.

“What do you mean, ‘he just left?’”

“He was here and he talked to Betty and when I tried to do something, he grabbed her to stop me. Then when we heard your car in the driveway, he banged her head against the fridge and ran out that door.” He pointed at one of the white double doors beside the dining room table, leading into the backyard. “Then you came in and I...I didn’t know what to do. And now Betty….Poor, poor Betty.”

Alice opened her mouth, about to call bullshit when she heard the sound of Betty’s pained groan behind her. Biting her lower lip, Alice turned around to tend to her daughter, slowly helping her to her feet. “Wh...What happened?” The sixteen year old wondered with a hand on her head.

“You don’t remember?” Alice asked with a panic deep within her chest.

“N...No?” Betty looked a bit confused as Alice let go of her arm finally and she wobbled. Her mother quickly took hold of her once more to stabilize her.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” The former Mrs. Cooper wondered.

“I remember Juggy dropped me off...I came inside…” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I don’t know. It’s all a bit of a blur.”

“Sweetie, just try.” Alice asked desperately, hoping Chic’s story could be confirmed by someone else.

“I don’t know. I just remember that I was arguing with Chic and then…” She paused...thinking as hard as possible, but all she could see or hear in her memory was static. “And then I woke up here.”

“Come here.” Alice pulled Betty in for a tight hug as she gazed over at Chic, still looking terrified in his little corner. “It’s okay...you must’ve slipped or fainted or something. When Chic heard your fall, he came running to find you on the floor.” She gently rubbed her youngest’s head as she held her, still keeping an eye on her son across from her. “Come on. Let’s get you into bed with an ice pack for that bump you’re gonna have.” She turned with Betty, leading her toward the staircase. “Stay right here for a second, honey.” She let Betty lean an arm against the railing as she turned back to walk toward Chic again. Inches from him, she whispered with a threatening tone. “You stay right there, Chic Jones! I will be down here to talk about what really happened.”

She gave him one last glare and returned to her daughter’s side, guiding her up the stairs while Chic watched from his lonely corner.

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey, guys! I’m thinking the next chapter might be the last one (depending on how long it is). Don’t worry, I have other Falice fics to come. And I’m super excited for them. I might not begin them right away though so I can take a small break to write other things I’m working on, but I promise, I will not be gone long. Thanks so much for sticking with me and supporting what I do! It truly means so so so so much! I love you all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you’ll enjoy the next one (or two). Leave comments, please! MWAH!**


	21. Concussion

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Looks like we’ve “finally” (lol) made it to our last 2 chapters. I’m so excited for you guys to read them. I’ve had this ending planned out since chapter 7! I really really hope you like it and please comment when you finish! Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over. I love you all so much and I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 

“There.” Alice said as she sweetly guided Elizabeth to her bed. She helped her lay her head on her pillow as she handed her the bag of frozen peas she took with her up the stairs. “Hold that where it hurts most.” She watched Betty, feeling a bit uneasy seeing her so confused and out of it. “Maybe I should take you to the hospital.”

“What? Mom, no. I’ll be fine.”

“Betty, sweetie. You lost your memory. And from what Chic said, it sounds as if you may have hit your head really hard. You could have a concussion.” Alice rested her hand upon Betty’s knee, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. “How many fingers am I holding up?” Alice held up both her index and middle finger, waiting for a response. When Betty refused to answer, she picked up her cell phone, googling other signs of a concussion.

“Ma, I won’t have a concussion. I think I just need some best.” The sixteen year old forced some of her words out with difficulty.

“What was that?” Alice asked her to repeat.

“Mm…” Betty held the frozen peas on the right side of her head and closed her eyes.

“Betty! Betty, no!” Alice stood, tapping her daughter on the hip. “Don’t go to sleep. I’m taking you to the hospital. Come on!”

Elizabeth groaned. “I just want sleeeep.” She whined, slurring her words once again.

“No. Your pupils are dilated and you sound as drunk as Captain Morgan. Let’s go.” After quickly locking her phone and setting it in her pocket, she carefully took her youngest by the arm and slowly pulled her up in the bed. She guided Betty’s arm around her shoulder and led her to the staircase. “I swear to God, that boy is gonna get it.” She mumbled to herself when they made it to the top of the stairs, heading down the first step with caution.

“Mom?” Chic’s shaky voice sounded when they were halfway down.

“Charles!” The journalist spoke as she held most of Betty’s weight, almost to the bottom step. “I don’t wanna hear a sob story right now. I’m-”

“Alice…” A familiar voice rang out.

Both Betty and Alice looked up to see it. Him. The man in the black hood. They both stopped moving immediately, leaving themselves on the last step. Frozen as they saw the man whose hand held a gun, pointed at poor Chic, still alone and afraid in his corner. Alice quickly looked to Elizabeth beside her with shock before turning her attention back to the hooded figure. She was wrong. The whole time. She was wrong. Chic wasn’t the Black Hood. But she knew. She knew exactly who it was the moment she heard him.

Alice scoffed before letting out a laugh with a shake of her head. “Hal Cooper.” She clicked her tongue before she finally stopped shaking her head. “It was you. This whole time. And it was you.” She nodded. “I’ve gotta hand it to you, Harold. I really never thought you’d be the murdering type.”

“It’s not murder!” He yelled, yanking the hood off his head and letting it fall to the floor. “It’s justice!”

“Justice?!” Betty finally spoke up through the massive pain in her head. “Dad, you killed Miss Grundy. You almost killed Mr. Andrews. I thought he was your friend.”

“Fred Andrews? My friend?” Hal laughed. “Psh! I don’t have any friends.”

“Well, at least you’re finally admitting it to yourself.” Alice sneered. “Why, Hal? Why all of this?”

“It’s like I told Betty….I’m trying to make this town safe for her. I’m ridding Riverdale of its scum. And after I pinned everything on Svenson and made sure the investigation was closed, I expected the town to clean up its act, but instead things just got worse. And then he showed up.” He turned his head to look at Chic for a brief moment before turning his head again. “I knew that eventually I’d have to pick up the Hood again, I just didn’t know it’d be so soon nor did I know that I would find a good reason for Chic to be my first victim for my returning act. But this afternoon when you told me about that little act of murder he committed in here, I realized I finally found his sin.” He turned to face Chic once more and he pulled the trigger.

Both Betty and Alice screamed at the sound of the gunshot and Betty looked away as Alice’s eyes were squeezed shut. When she opened them, she was more than relieved to see Chic still standing, though he held tightly to his left shoulder as blood poured from it. “Hal! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” She cried.

“Dad?” Betty finally turned to see that her brother lived and she pulled her arm off of her mother’s shoulder. She leaned against the railing of the staircase to hold herself up. “Why are you doing this?” Elizabeth let the tears fall.

“Because Betty. Isn’t this what you wanted? A better town? A better life? With better people in it? As your father, that’s my duty.” He sighed. “And if that means that I have to get rid of Chic and your mother too, then so be it.” He turned his body, pointing the gun at Alice.

“No, no, Dad! Don’t shoot!” Betty put one arm in front of her mother, wanting desperately to step in front of her, though she lacked the balance and stability at the moment. “Mom hasn’t done anything wrong.” She cried.

“See? I thought the same thing myself. When she came home earlier, I left without touching Chic because I realized she would catch me and I’d have to kill her...which I didn’t want to do because I couldn’t think of ‘anything wrong’ that she had ever done. So, instead of risking getting caught, I decided to leave and come back for Chic some other time, but then I remembered…”

“Remembered what?” His daughter wondered from the staircase.

“A little detail I learned about your mother at work today.” He smiled smugly.

“And what’s that?” Betty asked, clenching her teeth with anger and a feeling of betrayal.

“She’s pregnant. Now, I did the math and if she was able to take a test already...that means she’s at least more than a few weeks pregnant. Which means she’d have gotten pregnant before we were even divorced. And, if I’m correct on who the father is….then he’s still married as well. Or he was at the time.”

“Hal, I didn’t sleep with him until AFTER we divorced.” Alice interrupted.

“Oh.” Hal nodded. “So it really is FP.” He laughed with a shake of his head. “I mean….I knew it earlier, but you didn’t really give me a straight answer and now you just confirmed it. So you still committed adultery anyway, because of Gladys.” He briefly lowered his gun. “How many times are you gonna make a mistake with that Southside scum?” Hal looked down and blew disappointed air out of his nose. When he inhaled again, he looked back up to his ex wife and aimed the gun at her once more. “Looks like I’m gonna have to rid you of that mistake first.”

“No!” Betty shouted, stepping in front of Alice. She wobbled with dizziness as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell off the bottom step and onto the floor beneath Alice.

“Betty!” Alice screamed, attempting to lean over to tend to her.

“Ah, ah! You stay right where you are.” Hal demanded.

“Just let me see if she’s okay! Please?” She begged. “Hal, this is our baby.” Her voice cracked as they stared at each other for a second.

“Alright, fine. But you’re staying right beside her.” He warned.

Alice rolled her eyes and made her way down the last step to kneel beside her youngest. “Betty? Betty, can you hear me? Wake up! Come on, baby.”

“Is-is she breathing?” Hal wondered from across the room.

Alice checked her pulse and watched her chest slowly rise and fall. “Just barely.” She looked up to Hal. “We have to get her to a hospital. Is this what you wanted, Hal? Is this how you plan to keep Betty safe?” She asked from the floor. “You bash her head into our fridge? Give her a concussion?”

“I didn’t want to do that, but I thought she’d be with Jughead tonight. I wasn’t planning on her being here when I tried to….I didn’t know I hit her that hard.”

“Yeah, well...none of that matters. And all that does matter is keeping her safe. Keeping all of my children safe. And you already ruined that for me with Polly.”

Hal let his head fall with annoyance and he scoffed. “Enough talking. I’m taking Betty to the hospital myself, but not until I kill you, your baby, and your precious son.”

“I don’t think you’re gonna wanna do that.” A new voice sounded from the front door and they all slowly turned their heads to see Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Second, accompanied by his son, both holding guns of their own.


	22. No More

“Drop the gun, Hal.” FP Jones demanded, slowly taking a few more steps into the house, Jughead following.

“FP.” Hal tried to protest.

“Drop! The! Gun!” FP shouted from the living room.

“You drop yours!” Hal shouted back. “Do you two see what you’ve done? What you’ve created?” He gestured to a, still, horrified Chic. “First him...now another one? And who even knows if Betty’s mine? Or Polly.”

“Hal, be serious.” Alice rolled her eyes again, slowly standing with Betty at her feet. “The only one who cheated in our relationship was you. And you’re the only one of us here who’s committed murder.”

“Nah ah ah.” Mr. Cooper pointed his gun to Chic again. “Remember him? And you went and covered it up.”

“We all covered it up!” FP confessed as Hal pointed his gun back over to the Jones men.

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.” The male journalist lifted his free hand to hold the gun with both of them as he planned to shoot FP first. “What? Did Alice come to you for help?” He mocked.

“No, actually...I went to him for help with it.” Jughead spoke up, handling his first gun surprisingly well.

“What? Do you have surveillance on my wife and daughter? Or is there just an emergency Jones button that I don’t know about?” He chuckled. “How’d you know to come here anyway?”

“There’s an emergency Jones button that you don’t know about.” Chic joked from the corner with a grin.

“Chic.” Alice began.

“Alice texted me saying that Betty needed to go to the hospital. Jug and I came right over to pick them up.” He looked over to Alice with a large grin and she smiled back. “She knows I’ll drop anything for her.” He kept his eyes on Hal as the grip on his gun grew tighter. “Which is something you never did.”

“Why don’t you go back to your gang of criminals? You might wanna spend as much time with them as you can because once I’m done with the Northside’s loose ends, I‘m coming for your territory.” Hal threatened.

“Oh yeah?” FP laughed. “That’s definitely not gonna happen.” Jughead laughed behind him.

Finally, Betty began to stir and Alice bent over again, helping her stand as slowly as possible. The teen groaned when she realized this was not a nightmare. This was real. “Mom?” She mumbled.

“Yes, sweetie?” Alice asked with her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.

“Jug?” She said when she saw her boyfriend, his dad, and her own dad pointing armed weapons at each other. It was silent for a while as they all waited for her to speak. Her eyes drooped a little and she furrowed her brows to try and ease the pain in her head. “Dad...how could you have done all this? How could you live with yourself sleeping under the same roof as me, knowing you were ruining all of my friendships and almost killing them?”

“The real question is...how DID you do it?” Alice asked. “Really. I’m curious. How did Hal Cooper, of all people, become the Black Hood?”

“Well, as the owner of our town’s newspaper...I knew more secrets than pretty much everyone. Betty writes a lot in her diary and this town gossips more than the baptist church. If you’re asking specifically, well...Once Betty gave her speech at the Jubilee, I looked around at everyone in the room with us, I remembered that Veronica had told Betty about her mother’s little fling with Fred, which was pretty obvious since Fred and Hermione were beginning to be seen everywhere with each other. I looked at Archie and remembered the night that Alice told me about Geraldine Grundy and her sick activities with that boy. And Moose and Midge? Well...when Alice was writing her expose on Pop’s closing and the drug dealing that began to go down there that night, she texted me with photo evidence that those two were receiving Jingle Jangle and I drove to Pop’s, stayed in the parking lot and waited for them to leave to follow them up to the hill where they parked.” He shook his head for a moment as he remembered the bigger picture here. “This town really IS full of demons. Betty was right. I should’ve never stopped what I was doing. If I hadn’t….maybe none of this would be happening. Maybe Chic would’ve never come here. A man would’ve never been murdered right in that living room and it would’ve never been covered up.”

“So...you’re just gonna kill everyone who’s ever done something bad in Riverdale, Dad? That’s it?” Betty asked as another tear rolled down her cheek. “EVERYONE has done something wrong. Even I have! Are you gonna shoot me?” Hal finally looked at his daughter. “If you were doing all of this for me then I’m asking you to please stop. When I made that speech, I wasn’t saying that we should kill ANYBODY. I was asking everyone to be more honest and to care more about each other. And when I think of the Black Hood, I do NOT think of an honest or caring person. I think of a monster...worse than all of us. And that means something coming from me. I have my own dark side that sometimes I can’t control and I used to think that I got her from Mom but no….I now know that I got her from you.”

“Betty-”

“And you wanna kill everyone who helped cover up that murder, Dad? Then you’re gonna have to kill me too.” She admitted.

“What? Your mother said you were at Veronica’s that night.” Hal’s gun began to slowly drop as he turned his head to his daughter by the stairs.

“Well, she lied. Because I was there and I moved the body and cleaned this entire first floor with her. Then Juggy and I swamped the man’s car.” She took one step away from her mother, almost losing her balance as she did. “So, Dad...even I, your precious Betty Cooper, deserve to be killed by the Black Hood as well if ridding this town of every bad person is your goal. And don’t forget….you’ve killed people. You cheated on Mom AND you stole evidence from the sheriff’s office. You deserve to be one of the Black Hood’s victims as much as any of us. Really, the whole town would be wiped out if that were the case.”

“Yeah. The only person in Riverdale who shouldn’t be a victim is Pop Tate.” Jughead responded from behind FP. “You’d be the only two left and you’d have to ask him to pull the trigger. Which he wouldn’t. So...you’d either have to kill yourself or go to prison….Ultimately, you’d be screwed. I mean, you’re pretty much screwed right now, because one wrong move and my dad or I kill you or you surrender to Sheriff Keller when he gets here…” Just as he said that, almost on cue, the sound of a police siren rang out.

“Did we forget to mention we called the sheriff’s station when we got here and saw you pointing a gun at Chic through the window?” FP asked with a smug smile. “Oops.” He sent Alice a wink. “So yeah...you’re pretty much screwed.” He agreed with Jughead.

It was silent for a moment before Hal sent FP a smug smile. With one single chuckle, he slowly moved his gun to aim it at Alice’s head. “Mr. Cooper!” Jughead said with warning as Hal moved the gun down to aim it at her stomach.

“Well, so is your baby.” He said and just when he began to squeeze the trigger, Chic lunged at him, tackling him to the floor and the gun fell from Hal’s hands.

Chic grabbed the gun as quickly as possible, kneeling on top of the unmasked Black Hood. He pointed the gun directly in Hal’s face and a crying Alice quickly ran to him. “CHIC, NO!” She screamed, the tears rushing down. She did not hesitate to grab her son’s arm, sliding her own hand down it to take the gun from him. “Not again.” She whispered with a shake of her head. “Not again.” She repeated. “Come on.” She pointed her gun down at Hal in one hand while she used the other to take Chic by the shoulder, forcing him to stand up and back away. He obeyed as he cried.

“Alice.” FP said, keeping his gun on Hal as well. “Get away from him.”

Alice looked down at her ex….the man who’s abused her both physically and emotionally, the man who’s caused so much turmoil and fear, the man who deceived her into thinking she was never good enough, and she put her finger on the trigger, ready to pull it. “I’m finally gonna be rid of you.” She sobbed.

“Alice...Alice, don’t.” FP began.

“Mom.” Betty put her hand up to her temple, where her head still pounded.

“I’ll finally be able to look at myself in the mirror again without hating myself or wondering if you’d disapprove of my outfit, or my hair, or tell me I was wearing too much lipstick! I can finally tell myself that I am good enough.” Her body shifted as she took one step closer to him, her hand beginning to shake as she angrily cried. “I no longer have to come to you for permission on where I wanna go or what I wanna eat. It’s finally over! I finally get to tell you goodbye. For good. No more wondering if what I’ve done will result in verbal abuse from you. No more hating myself for choosing you. No more bad memories. No more.” She sniffled. “No more.”

“Alice…” FP said again as he took one step forward. “He’s not worth it.”

“I can finally forget what you did to me over and over and over again.” Alice clenched her teeth together as she whimpered. “And I can finally forget our wedding night and the fear you put in me when the Black Hood targeted my family….Our family. YOUR OWN family. It’s over. It’s finally over.”

“MOM!” Betty screamed from near the staircase.

By now, Alice’s hand shook uncontrollably and she stared down at him as his eyes closed. She thought of every painful thought Hal had put into her head and every painful memory that could no longer haunt her. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes as well. Her free hand reached up to hold her stomach and she held her breath, pulling the trigger four times as she screamed.

“Everybody, FREEZE!” Sheriff Keller and his police force ran in with their guns in the air. “Drop the gun, Alice!” He shouted near the door as an officer approached her. Alice continued to cry as she let go of the gun in the cop’s hand who forcibly took it from her. “Hal Cooper, you are under arrest for the murders of Geraldine Grundy and Robert Phillips, attempted murders of Midge Klump, Fred Andrews, and Moose Mason and for the vandalism of Joseph Svenson’s grave. You have a right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law….”

As Sheriff Keller continued to state the Miranda Rights, two other officers forced Hal to stand from the floor that was now riddled with bullets from Alice. Mr. Cooper looked into his ex wife’s relieved eyes as they carried him out of the house and into the back of a police car outside. FP, who had quickly taken Jughead’s gun and hid it, along with his own, the moment they were joined by the police, stepped over to Alice. He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. “You alright?” He asked as her hands clinged to his wrists. She slowly nodded and they kissed before he hugged her. “Why didn’t you do it?” He whispered, still hugging her closely to him.

“Our daughter.” She whispered when they broke the hug. “I mean, I don’t know that she’s a girl yet, but I just...have a feeling.” She grinned up at him while he used his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

FP giggled. “Me too.”

“It felt good though.” She admitted. “Pretending to shoot him. I needed it.”

“Yeah?” He laughed, quickly hugging her again.

“I think I just needed some closure.” She shrugged, putting her arm around his waist as they turned to face the door, watching the sheriff shove Hal’s head into the police car.

“If that’s what you call closure...then I’m gonna be in for a real treat, huh?” FP joked.

“See? Now you know not to mess with me.” Alice poked him on the nose with her pointer finger.

FP laughed again. “I love you, Alice Smith.”

“And I love you, FP Jones.” They smiled one more time before leaning in for another kiss.

The End.

* * *

 

**A/N: Omg Guys! I hope you liked it! This chapter was much longer than I expected, but I couldn’t stop writing. Haha Please please let me know what you think in the comments and also….LET ME FREAK OUT ABOUT PALEYFEST FOR A SECOND!!!! If you haven’t seen the PaleyFest interview….It’s on YouTube and trust me….you’re gonna wanna see what Madchen does with Skeet. Anyway….Falice is rising and that’s what I am here for. Haha Thanks for reading you guys! I love you all! MWAH!**


End file.
